Drifter
by The Dream Writer
Summary: Skybax Rider training didn't go as planned for Tristan. He thought the worst of his challenges were over, but a whole new set of problems hatches out as he finds himself struggling to be the guardian of a very special skybax egg.
1. Chapter 1

"Disclaimer: I do not own Dinotopia or any of the characters from Dinotopia. I only own my OCs.

(Note) This is the sequel to The Shadow Rider. I know it has been a long time since I last posted anything, but I was trying to do better with the second book and write the whole thing before posting any chapters. However, after all this time, I still haven't finished the book yet so I decided that the best way for me to get it written is to start posting chapters as I write them and maybe this will motivate me to finish the book quicker. This will result in some needs for editing, so the readers will have to bear with me on that. In other words, chapters may get posted, taken down, edited, and re-posted. And any of you who read some of my previously posted chapters on the book called "Eclipse" (which I took down after writing The Shadow Rider) will find similarities with the first few chapters of this new story since this is somewhat of a remake of the "Eclipse" story. I am terrible at titles, so the title of this one is a bit lame, but maybe a better one will come to me in time. If so, I will change the title. All comments, critiques, and reviews are welcome.

Chapter 1

Keeping the egg a secret from the public was the plan, but as soon as Tristan arrived in the capitol city of Dinotopia, he ran straight into trouble.

Or maybe it was trouble running into him.

As he passed through the huge gateway, he tipped his head back, viewing the familiar tall buildings featuring beautifully sculptured pillars, marble steps, and massive arched windows and doors, many of which were constructed to accommodate the largest of the dinosaurs.

His dark eyebrows tilted back in an anxious expression. It felt as if the city were a giant carnivore, swallowing him whole, much like the canyons had felt when he'd first arrived there for Skybax Rider training over eight months ago. He dropped his gaze down to the cobblestone street and kicked at a pebble. Arriving home shouldn't feel so ominous.

As Tristan walked down the familiar streets, the city sounded even noisier than he remembered. Carts and wagons squeaked and rattled, people shouted, dinosaurs called to one another in mixed tones of hoots, screeching, and growling, and music played somewhere in the distance, mainly the throb of the drums penetrating through the rest of the city's din.

The late afternoon air felt extra warm and sweat trickled down his neck. He instinctively glanced up at the sky, taking note of the light gray stratus clouds stretching across the space above. They were low lying clouds, not likely to cause any rain showers, but judging by the high humidity in the air, a squall could easily be forming somewhere in the distance, probably out at sea. But from where he stood in the street, he could not see the horizon. He would have to find higher ground, but here in the city a higher level such as a rooftop, or a tower would have to do since he no longer had the option of predicting weather with the help of a skybax companion.

A high pitched blast coming from a whistle broke Tristan's concentration on the sky, causing him to jump at the shrill tone. His hands instinctively flew to his ears while he found himself staring stupidly into the angry face of a traffic guard.

"Get out o' th' way! You'll git run over ifn ya stand around gawkin' like that." The hefty man barked. He grabbed Tristan by the collar and yanked him aside, travel pack and all, as if he were no lighter than a young school boy.

Tristan felt the all too familiar heat of anger rising to his face. He was no school boy. He was a young man, almost nineteen years old and he didn't appreciate being yanked around like a child. He was about to slap the man's meaty hands away from his collar when a huge bicycle taxi powered by a young lambeosaurus sped past them, narrowly missing them both. The wheels hit a puddle in the street, spattering dirty water all over Tristan. Through the splash of muddy droplets showering against him, he caught a glimpse of two laughing faces of the passengers riding at the back of the taxi.

"Well, maybe that'll teach ya t' watch where yore a goin' next time." The man said, finally letting go of the teenager. He of course hadn't received any of the splatter from the puddle since he'd held Tristan securely in front of him like a shield.

Tristan did not trust himself to speak at the moment so he kept his mouth clamped tight as he rubbed at his dripping dark bangs which often stubbornly escaped the blue bandanna he usually wore tied around his head. It was an ornament he'd started wearing back at Canyon City, originally to hide a cut on his forehead that he didn't want anyone noticing. Once the cut healed he went on wearing it, liking the roguish appearance it gave him. His excuse for wearing it had been that it kept the wind from blowing his bangs into his eyes, but he'd been informed by his instructor that a hair cut would be a simpler solution.

The traffic guard gave his bright uniform a quick pat, checking for mud splatter. After finding nothing, he gave a satisfied grunt and without even glancing in Tristan's direction any longer, he merely turned away to focus on his duties once again, blasting his whistle at someone else this time.

Tristan had been dismissed as indifferently as an insect being brushed from a sleeve and as a result, Tristan glared at him, tempted to wipe his muddy sleeve over the back of the man's neatly pressed shirt. But as hard as it was to let the matter go, he forced himself to walk away, grinding his teeth as he went.

Continuing his trek through the city, Tristan made sure from that point on to watch his step. He didn't want to be jerked around anymore by traffic guards whether they were attempting to save his life or not.

He eyed one of the taxi's, knowing that catching a ride on one could get him to his destination faster, but as he watched them speeding through the streets, he decided against it, not wanting to be jostled around any more than he'd already been.

He shifted his heavy backpack, concerned for the fragile cargo within. He realized now that a boisterous city was not the ideal place to raise an egg, especially in secret, but after the devastating results of his failed graduation day, he'd felt that he needed to spend some time at home. The egg happened to be an unexpected surprise passenger right before he left anyway. It would be good to reach his family's apartment before anything else could go amiss. But just as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he felt something bump into him from behind, thumping against his backpack.

Tristan's patience, which had worn thin already, snapped. "Hey, watch it!" He snarled as he whirled around.

There, staring back at him seemingly frozen with her mouth open stood a teenage girl.

Tristan passed a hand over his face. Girls. He was beginning to think that they were nothing but trouble, seeing as how a friendship with one back in Canyon City had ended in disaster. He felt tired and irritable, not only from traveling on foot the past several days and carrying the weight of his backpack with both the egg and his possessions and travel supplies, but also because of the emotional burdens which weighed heavy on his mind. As a result, the last thing he felt like doing at the moment was trying to muster a sincere sounding apology and to come up with some sort of logical sounding explanation for his frustration.

The girl remained still, clutching a colorful crocheted bag tightly in her slender hands. She licked her lips and swallowed before finally speaking. "I—I'm really sorry for bumping into you. I…uh…I should've paid closer attention to where I was going.

"Yes." Tristan agreed, his tone still gruff. "You should've." Then, dismissing her as unceremoniously as the traffic guard had done to him, he stepped away from the main hubbub of the street.

He reached to his back, pulling out his hiking staff from where he'd threaded it through the loops on his backpack straps, and laid it down on the seat of an empty sidewalk bench. Then he slid his backpack off of his shoulders and carefully set it down on the bench in front of the hiking staff. After loosening the drawstring, he dipped his hand into the backpack, gently pushing away the insulated blanket he'd wrapped securely around the egg for warmth and added protection. As he rubbed the leathery surface of the egg and felt the familiar warmth and life radiating from it, relief washed over him. It was still safe and unharmed.

Glancing up again, he discovered that the girl had not taken his cue of dismissal and was still watching him with a frightened look on her face. What was wrong with her? There was no reason for her to be afraid of him.

But Tristan didn't realize how rough his appearance looked and his harsh reaction toward her didn't help the matter. He'd been traveling on foot for several days. His clothes were grimy, there were holes in both the knees of his pants, revealing scabs on both knees, a roguish looking carnivore tooth necklace adorned his throat, and a faded blue bandanna was tied around his head. And now he had mud splattered on his clothes from his incident with the traffic guard. He would've removed his jacket which had received the worst of the muddy water, but he was utilizing it to cover up the fact that one sleeve of his shirt was torn off nearly to the shoulder. The backpack and staff he carried announced the fact that he was a traveler. His scowl gave him a mean look and the purple shadows beneath his eyes revealed that he'd traveled hard and not slept well for days.

It seemed as if Tristan could read the accusation printed across the girl's eyes; Dolphin Bay Drifter. It was only a matter of moments before she would regain her composure enough to flag down a street guard, probably a gruff saurian, which would then bring him to the city officials. Then they would discover the egg and the truth would only sound like a fiction to them and he'd be permanently labeled a Dolphin Bay Drifter who'd stolen an egg. And what would happen after that? Punishment? Banishment?

Suddenly Tristan felt bad for being so gruff toward the girl—not bad for her sake, but for his. As hard as it was to do, he managed to force a smile onto his face, hoping it would do for a gesture of forgiveness. His dark brown eyes gazed with intensity and his smile looked bright against his wind chapped and slightly sunburned face. He watched as the worry in the girl's blue eyes melted away. Her cheeks grew pink as she clasped her hands beneath her chin and dropped her gaze demurely.

The girl's adorable reaction caught Tristan off guard and his fake smile morphed into a true one. Apparently she took his expression as a friendly invitation, because she bounded over to him, golden ringlets bouncing against her rosy cheeks. Tristan stepped back a little, but she didn't seem to notice. She smiled up at him in a happy, childish way.

"Oh I'm so glad that you're not angry anymore." She said. "I'll try my best to pay closer attention to where I'm going next time." She hesitated, eyes sweeping over him again. "Just for the record, you're not _really_ a Dolphin Bay Drifter, are you?"

Tristan stared at her, surprised at her sudden switch of moods.

"Well?" She took a tentative step backward as if getting ready to run if she should need to.

Tristan finally shook his head. "No. Sauropolis is my home."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I'm always worried I might come across one. I've heard they can be really mean sometimes."

Tristan wondered if he should tell the girl that she was too trusting. Lucky for her he wasn't really a Dolphin Bay Drifter, because he could just as easily be lying to her.

"Do you want to know why I was so distracted when I accidentally bumped into you?" The girl piped up.

Tristan continued to stare at her, a little taken back by her sudden friendliness and quick conversation, especially after she'd seemed so afraid only a few minutes before.

Even though he hadn't responded, the girl just giggled and went on talking anyway. "Well, to be honest I was watching that brachiosaurus over there, trying to decide if it would be more thrilling to view the city from way up there on a saddle just behind its head, or if a ride on the back of a skybax would be better. A brachiosaurus would move slowly enough for me to see all the sights, that's for sure, but a skybax could let me see everything at any angle I wanted." She wrinkled her lightly freckled nose. "But then again, I don't know. A skybax would probably go too fast for me to take everything in." What do you think? Would it be better to ride a brach or a skybax?"

Tristan scratched his head awkwardly. She was looking up at him again apparently expecting an answer. Then he relaxed a little as he realized that her bubbly personality and fast changing moods reminded him a little of his sister, Tiana. Oh, how he missed his family! It had been a very long eight months. "I would choose the skybax." He finally said.

The girl groaned slightly. "Oh, it's such a hard decision." Then, after a moment's reflection, another laugh bubbled forth again. "Of course, I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, because I'll never get to ride a skybax, and I'd have to come up with some expensive trading material to get to ride one of those prestigious city brachs."

Tristan listened to the girl's chatter, wondering if he was going to be able to get a word in to say goodbye. He was tempted to simply walk away, but that would be rude and he didn't want to hurt her feelings again, much less risk the chance of her going back to thinking he really was some kind of rogue.

"So why are you still standing there with one arm inside your backpack? It looks funny, kind of like you were going to take something out, but forgot about it." The girl paused, blinking up at him expectantly.

This was the pause in the girl's seemingly endless flow of words that Tristan had been waiting for; his chance to quickly bid farewell and leave, but he hadn't expected yet another question to be hurtled at him so bluntly and it caught him off guard. "I uh…"

Before he could finish, the girl leaned forward, eyes sparking with interest as she peered into the backpack. It all happened so fast that Tristan hardly had time to think.

"Oh!" She gasped, "An egg! So that's why you were so upset when I bumped into you. I'm terribly sorry. I hope it didn't harm it." She looked up at Tristan, a quizzical expression on her face. "But…wait…what are you doing with an…egg?"

Tristan hoped his face didn't show how nervous he felt. All this time he'd been so careful—through the whole trip in fact—without anything significant happening, and now that he was within a half mile of home, the worst thing he could think of had happened. A stranger had caught him with the egg and was asking questions about it.

"You're a Drifter after all, aren't you?" The girl said, a sudden frown creasing her pale brow. "And you've done something terrible. You've stolen an egg!" She took a step backward.

Yes, Tristan wanted her to leave, but not like this. He quickly shook his head. "No, no no no. It's not what you think. You see, it's an orphan. I'm merely…uh…transporting it…you know…to a safe place." He was sweating now as he struggled to find words to explain his way out of this dilemma.

The girl narrowed her eyes at him and he could tell that she seemed to be thinking hard. Tristan quickly tightened the drawstring, secured the top flap, and pulled the backpack over his shoulders, threading his hiking staff through the back straps again.

"An orphan, you say?" The girl finally said. "Well if that's so, you're heading in the wrong direction. The Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery is back that way." She pointed down the wide street veering off to the left.

Tristan rubbed his forehead, a habitual motion he made when irritated or worried. In this case, it was a mixture of both. "I—I know. I grew up in this city."

"Did you now?" The girl looked him up and down incredulously. "Well you sure don't look like it."

Tristan tightened his lips in annoyance. It was true though. He knew that his travel worn simple tunic and pants looked drab compared to the grand attire of all the folks milling about the city. Back at Canyon City (a small town despite its name) such frills and frippery would likely make everyone laugh. During his training though, Tristan had quickly grown accustomed to wearing simple clothes more suited for the warm and dusty canyon environment. His clothes looked extra bad at the moment because he'd torn them up during a rough landing during a flight with a skybax and because he'd left Canyon City in a hurry, he hadn't taken the time to change.

"I may not look like it, but I did. I've just been away for awhile." He replied, hoping the girl wouldn't ask any more personal questions. In his opinion she was a little too friendly—to the point of being nosy—and seemed to have no perception of personal space. He shifted the pack on his shoulders and looked up at the sky. "Hey, you know what? I've really got to be going." He patted one of the backpack straps. "Important delivery to make, if you know what I mean." He managed to paste on another smile and was relieved to see that it seemed to have the desired effect.

The girl relaxed again and returned the smile, though it was a much more reserved one than before. "Right, I'd better not delay you any longer. I've probably overwhelmed you already with my chatter." She sighed. "It seems like I'm always getting in trouble for talking too much."

Tristan resisted the urge to verbally agree. Instead, he concentrated on trying to look as innocent as possible.

The girl held out a hand in the universal Dinotopian greeting. "I'll let you be on your way now. Sorry again about all the trouble. My name is Poppy, by the way, Poppy Harper."

Tristan touched the girl's hand briefly, returning the greeting. "I'm Tristan Starr. Nice to meet you." He said, through a forced smile and gritted teeth. The last thing he wanted to do was to give out his name, but it would be rude if he didn't and he sure didn't want to confirm her suspicions of him being a Drifter involved in kidnapping an egg and withholding it from its rightful place in a hatchery. That kind of information let loose in the city could bring him loads of trouble.

"Goodbye!" The girl said with a wave of her hand; seemingly back to her sunny self again. "Oh, and don't lose your way. Remember, the Hatchling Nursery is that way." She gestured again in the same direction she'd pointed out before.

Tristan had already started forward in the direction toward home, but the girl's words stopped him as he realized that she wouldn't understand why he was still going the wrong direction. "Um…right." He mumbled, turning around slowly. Not wanting her to ask any more questions, he headed in the direction she'd pointed, hoping that she'd go a different way so that she wouldn't notice when he'd sneak back and head on down Grand Avenue, toward home.

After taking a few steps he glanced behind him to see where Poppy was going. He sighed in relief to see her heading in the opposite direction. Late evening sunlight filtered through the smoke of a street side grill, illuminating the girl's golden hair which spilled over her shoulders in ringlets. She carried a colorful crocheted bag over an arm and held a wide brimmed hat in one hand.

Then, the girl suddenly turned, catching sight of him watching her. She smiled broadly and waved her hat. "Breathe Deep!"

Tristan was rattled. He hadn't expected her to turn around too. "Fly High." He returned, out of habit, along with the snappy skybax riders salute that all the cadets of the beginners' class were trained to use. After having to use it for so long, it came as a natural reaction.

Poppy stopped and gazed back at him with a puzzled look on her face.

Tristan stood frozen for a moment, watching her reaction. Then, much to his delight, a young triceratops passing by absentmindedly swinging its tail back and forth, accidentally bumped the girl with its tail, nearly swiping her off her feet. It took all of the girl's concentration to regain her footing.

Tristan immediately recognized this moment of opportunity. He spun around and hurried away as fast as he dared, hoping the girl wouldn't catch sight of him again and suddenly decide to follow him in order to ask more questions. However, in his haste, he forgot to go in the direction of the Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery and headed on down Grand Avenue toward the apartment where his family lived. He did not look behind him again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was nerve-wracking to return home with a report of failure, rather than success in Skybax Rider training. But even so, Tristan pressed on. He had to break the news sometime. There was no escaping that, so it might as well happen now.

He paused in front of the Sauropolis Star Restaurant, his tired eyes sweeping over the building, relishing every familiar detail. It was a tall limestone building featuring columns at the entryway, marble steps, arched windows, and elegant trim work. The restaurant belonged in the lower part of the building and the Starr family's apartment where they lived was situated in the upper part.

Tristan took a deep breath, enjoying the savory smells wafting from the restaurant. Dinner rush hour would be in full swing by now. He pictured the busy waiters and waitresses dashing to and fro between tables, taking down orders and serving the guests. In the back, the kitchen would be whirling with activity; dishes clattering, fires whirring, cooks barking orders, amongst the steam rising from pots and pans and hot ovens.

He considered walking through the front doors of the restaurant and ordering a meal as casually as any of the other guests, but when he shifted his heavy pack, stretching his sore shoulder muscles, it reminded him of the burden he'd carried back with him all the way from the canyons. No, he wouldn't walk into the restaurant and surprise his family that way. It would be better to go in the back way, up the stairs to the family apartment. After all, he was still unsure at how they would handle the news that he'd failed his training, disobeyed orders numerous times, and struck off on his own rather than asking for advice from his instructor.

If that wasn't bad enough, he still hadn't decided on whether he would mention the skybax egg to his family just yet. His mother was a stickler with rules and he suspected that she would lecture him and then see to it that the egg ended up in a Hatchery. In all reality, Tristan knew that hatcheries served a good purpose, but he didn't relish the idea of the egg being in someone else's care other than his own. It would be best to avoid revealing the egg to the eyes of the public. How he came to have it in his possession was a long and complicated story and anyone in authoritative positions might deem him and his past actions back at Canyon City as a threat to the Peace Code. Maybe it would be better if he just remained quiet about the egg for as long as possible and to keep it out of sight for now.

Questioning rules was starting to become a habit, but he quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind, not really wanting to come to terms with it.

Tristan skirted around to the back of the restaurant, the nervousness about facing his family getting to him. Keeping a firm grip on the iron railing, he climbed the familiar back stairs. The backpack, bulging with his travel supplies along with the skybax egg, felt heaver than ever before.

He paused in front of the door, wondering if he should go on in since it was his home, or if he should knock since no one would be expecting him. He looked down at the iron face of the triceratops door knocker and felt the odd sensation that it was staring right into his troubled heart. He swallowed hard and reached for the ring clutched in the creature's mouth and slapped it against the wood.

Tap, tap, tap.

He let go quickly and waited, straining his ears to catch the sound of approaching footsteps. It felt weird knocking on the door of his own home as if he were a mere stranger.

After a moment the door handle turned and the door swung inward slowly. A dark haired girl peeped shyly around the door, halfway hiding behind it.

"Celesta?" Tristan said.

The girl's pale gray eyes widened and she immediately stepped away from the protection of the door. She rushed forward and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.

"You're back!" She gasped.

Relief washed over Tristan as he returned his youngest sister's hug. "Of course I'm back. I told you I wouldn't stay away forever."

Celesta pulled away and looked up at her brother, her eyes shining like two silver stars. At fifteen, she was the youngest in the family as well as the shyest and quietest. As she looked him over, her joyful expression shifted into a look of concern. "You look…rough. Is everything alright?"

Tristan swallowed hard and dropped his gaze down to his worn boots. Everything was not alright. Everything had gone wrong with Rider training, but when he considered telling his sister all about it, his throat constricted. He chose to evade her question instead. "So where is everybody?" He asked, closing the door behind him. He reached back and pulled the hiking staff from his backpack straps and leaned it up against the jacket and hat rack.

Celesta knew that something was wrong. When Tristan was troubled and didn't want to talk about it, he always tried to look busy and avoided eye contact, just as he was doing right now. She decided not to press him to talk about it for now. Instead, she grasped his hand and led him down the entry hallway and into the sitting room which was usually reserved for entertaining company.

"Mother and Father are working in the restaurant and Tiana is at her dance lesson. Sekani is with Tiana, of course." Sekani was a young deinonychus orphan which Cedric Starr, the children's father, had rescued once when he used to work as a guard for Rainy Basin convoys. Tiana, the middle child of the three, had immediately bonded with the creature and since then they'd been close friends.

"So what are you doing here all alone then?" Tristan said, managing to crack a smile now. He knew exactly why his little sister was staying home. It was because she was very shy and would rather stay home than go out alone into the boisterous city.

Celesta smiled. "I do house keeping jobs throughout the city now. Today I am taking care of our own house. With everyone always darting in and out, things get messy around here fast. I like keeping things clean and tidy. It's an important job you know."

Tristan glanced around realizing for the first time since he'd walked in how neat and tidy the room was. Colorful tapestries decorated the stone walls and intricately woven rugs brightened the dark wooden floor. Plush pillows were plumped and propped up neatly upon the furniture, the candlesticks looked freshly polished and the floors looked as if they had been swept clean. He was impressed. His sister had truly done her job well.

Celesta grunted slightly as she tugged at her brother's backpack. "This is so heavy. Is it full of pretty rocks from the canyons?"

"No." Tristan said quickly, stepping back out of his sister's reach while keeping a protective hand on the shoulder strap of the backpack. Carefully he slid the pack from his shoulders and set it gently on the floor. He looked up again to see Celesta watching him with a mixed expression of surprise and disappointment on her face.

Guilt washed over him. Celesta had always been fascinated with rocks and shells and other interesting small relics of nature and Tristan had always made it a point to pick something up for her whenever he traveled anywhere away from home. He realized with a sinking feeling that he'd been so wrapped up with his own troubles that he'd forgotten to pick up anything for her—not even one small pebble from the canyons. And now that he was thinking about it, she would've had a birthday recently too. He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "Um, Celesta, I uh…I don't have any…rocks…this time." He glanced around the room, not sure where to look until his gaze settled on his backpack again. Of course, he always had the option of showing her the egg.

For a moment, he struggled inwardly, trying to decide if he should keep this orphaned skybax egg a secret for a while longer, or if he should let anyone in his family know about it right away. In some ways, it would be easier to share the burden, but then again, it was his burden to bear, a responsibility that the skybax had given to him alone. If he ever wished to fully gain the skybax's trust, he would have to be very careful on how he took care of the egg. And instinct still told him that he would lose control over it if it ended up in a Hatchery.

Celesta fixed her pale eyes on her brother, watching him closely. Tristan was still staring at the backpack while a distraught look crept into his eyes. The girl touched his shoulder. "It's alright." She said softly. "I have too many rocks in my collection as it is."

Tristan glanced up and looked his sister in the eyes, searching for the right words to speak. "Celesta, I…I have something to tell you."

"Just let me guess." Celesta said quietly.

"But you could never—" Tristan started to protest, but his sister silenced him by shaking her head.

"Shhh. There. Now listen." Celesta continued to speak in a soft tone. "I had a dream about you."

Tristan frowned slightly. Celesta had always been extremely intuitive and occasionally this trait came out in her dreams. "Is this the same dream you told me about in one of the letters you sent to me back at Canyon City—the one about me falling?"

Celesta shook her head.

"Wait, what?" Tristan replied, totally surprised. "A different one now?" He laughed nervously, trying to cover up how anxious he felt. "Well I sure hope it was a good one this time." His sister's last dream about him had uncannily come true. He _did_ end up falling in the canyons and it had taken him nearly six weeks to recover from it. He hadn't wanted to worry his family though, so he'd never mentioned the details about it to them.

Celesta searched her brother's face. "You're not a Rider yet, are you?" She said gently.

"But what makes you think that?" Tristan quickly replied. "Was it your dream?"

"I could tell the moment you walked through the door." Celesta said. "I know you. If you were a Rider, you would've been wearing your new uniform, eager to show it off. And yes, I hoped the dream had no measure of truth to it, but by the looks of you, I'm afraid it could have. You see…in my dream, I—I saw a skybax…die." Her voice dropped off nearly to a whisper. "Somehow, I sensed that she was connected to you.

Tristan stood still saying nothing.

A minute of silence dragged by, but Celesta waited patiently for him to speak. She clutched her hands in front of her, twisting her fingers together.

"It could've been Twilight." Tristan finally said, his voice sounding slightly husky. "Maybe…maybe you can tell me how…she died. Maybe you discovered it in your dream, because I'm…I'm looking for answers."

Celesta's eyes welled with tears. "Oh, Tristan. I am sorry. I'm am so, so sorry. I really don't know. I just saw her lying on the ground, bleeding, and dying. I felt like she was connected to you somehow and even stranger yet, I felt a connection to her. Just beyond her a river emptied into a huge opening in the ground. I think…I think it may have been the legendary World Beneath." She frowned. "But I—I probably dreamed about it only because I love the stories about the World Beneath so much. It probably just mixed into my dream. It probably didn't even mean anything important." She sounded as if she were trying to convince herself.

Tristan turned away, blinking hard, frustrated at how difficult it was to keep his emotions under control.

Celesta knew that her brother didn't like to be touched when he was struggling with his emotions, so she resisted the urge to hug him. Instead, she motioned for him to take a seat on the double Windsor style chair. "You don't have to talk about it right now. It's ok."

Tristan rubbed his forehead, frowning. "Arrg." He finally said in frustration. "If you would just yell at me and be really angry with me for failing training and so on, it would be so much easier."

"How can I be angry with you when I know without a doubt that you did the best that you could? I know you. When you do something you love, you put your whole self into it. If you succeed, you succeed big. If you fail, you fail big. Besides, you've lost someone you cared a whole lot about. How could I be angry with you when you're obviously hurting so much?"

Tristan sank into the chair and held his head in his hands. He said nothing for awhile and Celesta remained quiet, allowing him time to sort through his emotions. Finally he took a deep breath.

"Celesta?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to show you something, but can you promise that you'll keep it a secret?"

Celesta looked worried. "But is it bad?"

"No—not exactly. It's just…out of the norm…for Dinotopia."

"You know I'd like to keep a secret for you. I always did my best to when we were younger."

Tristan smiled slightly. "Yes, but you were always bad about eventually telling mother and father."

Celesta dropped her gaze to the floor. "True. I could only stand the guilt for so long. But I was younger then, and besides, those secrets were things you did that were naughty, like the time you skipped school and slipped out of the city with Sekani to practice for an upcoming sports competition. Or the time you let a young edaphosaurus lick the restaurant plates until they were spotless and then put them back into the cupboards without washing them. Or the time you were mad at Tiana so you hid all of her writing supplies and wouldn't tell her what happened to them. Or what about the time—"

"Ok, ok, no need to recall all the sins of my past." Tristan said. "This isn't quite the same, but if I can't trust the secret with you, I'll keep it to myself." He glanced down at the backpack, really wishing he could trust someone to bear the burden with.

Celesta sighed. "Whatever it is, I promise not to tell anyone, not even Tiana, or mother or father." She looked her brother in the eyes, but she clenched her hands together nervously. Something in the pit of her stomach warned her that whatever he was going to share couldn't be completely good, otherwise he wouldn't have such a desperate look haunting his eyes. But she loved her brother in spite of all his flaws. He was family and the sibling who had always seemed to understand her the most.

Tristan leaned down and opened the backpack and beckoned for his sister to step closer. "Instead of a skybax partner, this is what I brought back from the canyons."

Celesta peeked into the bag and immediately her eyes widened. She said nothing at first and simply stared at the egg as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Finally she reached down and brushed her fingers against the shell.

"It has dark blue and russet spots." She breathed. "I visited the hatchery once and I never saw an egg like this." She looked up again, her brow furrowed. "Is it alright? Is it warm enough?"

"It's just fine. I've been taking good care of it." Tristan replied.

Celesta gazed into space. "It belonged to the dying skybax in my dream, didn't it? And that's why you have it?"

Tristan swallowed hard. "It was Twilight's."

Celesta didn't hold back this time. She sat down beside her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "Tristan." She said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

Tristan struggled to keep his emotions under control as he squirmed out of his sister's hug. "Things are complicated now." He said, gruffly.

Celesta backed away, understanding her brother's actions. "But why do you want this egg to be a secret?"

"It's really complicated." Tristan replied. "To make a long story short, I learned that there was a small group of skybaxes in the canyons who don't get along with the other skybaxes. I was advised to stay away from them, but I didn't. I befriended one who I call Dark Wing and later I learned that he was mates with Twilight. I learned that both of the skybaxes were willing to set aside clan differences and intermingle. However, neither one of the skybax groups were accepting of this. I was in the middle of it all. I learned the hard way that we were all viewed as rule breakers and for upsetting the balance of what had always been. I know there is more to their history and why they are so hostile toward each other, but I haven't learned all of it yet. In the beginning, I had two willing skybax partners and in the end I had none. Twilight died after a brutal skybax disagreement, and Dark Wing brought me the egg to keep watch over, rather than promising a flight partnership with me."

"You never mentioned Dark Wing in your letters to us." Celesta said softly.

Tristan avoided her eyes and bent over to tuck the blanket around the egg again and cover it. "There are a lot of things I didn't mention in the letters."

"But why does the egg need to be a secret right now?"

"Because I don't want anyone making me take it to a hatchery where other people will ask way too many questions. Then they'll tell me what to do and the egg won't be fully under my care any longer. I don't want to risk anyone taking it from me."

"Why would anyone take it from you?"

"I don't know for sure that anyone would. I just don't want to risk it. People might think I'm not responsible enough to have it under my care, or they might think I'm too rebellious, or not reliable enough."

"Tristan, why would you even worry about any of those things?"

"Don't you see, Celesta? I failed Rider training! I disobeyed rules, crossed into forbidden territory, pursued things I was told to leave alone. In the end, my instructor told me that I hadn't proved to be reliable, which is an extremely essential trait to be a Rider." By now, Tristan was on his feet again, pacing while he spoke.

"So you're worried your reputation could get in the way of keeping the egg in your care. I see now." Celesta said, taking note of her brother's agitated manner.

"Yes. I need to care for this egg myself so that when the time is right after it hatches, I can bring it back to the canyons and introduce it to her kin."

Celesta arched and eyebrow. "Her? How do you know it's a her?"

Tristan halted his pacing. "I don't. It's just a guess. I know it sounds silly, but I've thought of it as a her ever since the egg came into my possession. I'm probably just—just…wishing for Twilight." His voice cracked.

Celesta stepped up to him and grasped his clenched fists. "Hey. Hey. It's ok. I'll help you." She'd looked up at her brother with a worried look in her eyes. She'd never seen him like this before. He looked as if he were on the verge of breaking. The muscles in his face were taught, his eyes were squinting, and his hands were still clenched in fists.

"Tristan. I believe you will be a Rider one day, even if it didn't work out this time. You still have a connection with the other skybax, right?"

Tristan plopped down onto the chair again and rubbed his face with his hands.

"Yes." He said, wearily. "I do."

"Well, maybe you should go back again soon." Celesta suggested. "Try the beginners' course again."

"I'm not going back right now." Tristan said firmly. "I came home because I needed some time away from there. And I…well…now I have this egg to take care of. And I don't plan on returning to the canyons again until it has hatched and she's ready to meet the other skybaxes of the canyons."

"So, judging by what you said earlier, there is no way you will take it to a Hatchery? There are others there who will help you look after it. They've got better equipment for tending to it anyway."

"No way." Tristan said resolutely. If Dark Wing would've wanted it to be taken to a Hatchery he would've made that clear. What he did make clear is that the egg is fully my responsibility." Tristan sighed deeply. "An orphaned egg can be cared for without fancy equipment. I make sure to keep it warm, turn it every few hours, and moisten the blanket around it from time to time."

"So what are you going to tell our parents?"

"Tristan groaned. "I don't know. I'm sure they're going to be upset when they find out that I…failed…the first level of training." He grimaced at the word 'failed,' but he couldn't think of a better way to word it. And he didn't want to repeat the story about Twilight. It still hurt so much to talk about it and he'd nearly lost it with Celesta.

"Rush hour at the restaurant will be over before long and they'll be coming home. Are you going to keep hiding the egg or let Mother and Father know about it?" Celesta asked.

Tristan frowned. "I guess I'll hold off telling them about it for tonight at least. I'm still trying to sort out all my thoughts. I'm afraid they wouldn't understand—especially Mother. I can totally see her trying to make me take it to a Hatchery. Besides, breaking the news about my failure is going to be more than enough for the rest of the family to take in for one evening anyway. Also I'd sure hate for word to get out about this egg. The city officials would view it all wrong, thinking I was in league with the Drifters somehow. Then they would hold me for questioning and demand that the egg be put in a Hatchery. I don't think I could ever face Dark Wing again if I let someone take the egg away from me."

Celesta looked troubled about his answer, but chose to keep her thoughts to herself at the moment. Instead she stepped up to her brother and risked giving him another hug.

"Thank you for sharing your secret with me. And I'm glad you're home again. I missed you an awful lot."

"Tristan hugged his sister back. "I missed you too. Now why don't you help me find a good hiding place for this egg? My room's available still, I hope." He managed to smile although his eyes still held an anxious look.

Celesta smiled back. "Yeah. Tiana and Sekani tried to take it over, but I wouldn't let them. Your things are all still there."

"Good." Tristan closed his backpack and pulled it over his shoulders once again. "You'd better show me the way." He teased. "I've been gone so long that I don't think I remember how to get there."

Celesta laughed and tugged at his arm. "How about I show you the way to the bath tub first? You look like you haven't bathed in days." She wrinkled her nose. "And you stink."

Tristan grinned slightly, feeling his dark mood lift a little. "Aw, come on. It's not that bad." He lifted an arm and sniffed. "Ah. Yup. I'm good for several more days, at least."

Celesta rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Why do guys always do that? It's so gross!" She gave him a little push toward the other room. "Go get a bath. Now."

"Alright, alright." Tristan replied, his grin widening. It was wonderful to be home once again. He'd missed his family tremendously. His grin faded when he remembered that he would have to present his difficult news once again for the rest of the family. Celesta was the easy one to talk to. It wouldn't be as easy to repeat it to the others.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The comforts of home would've felt better if he didn't have the burden of having to break the news to the rest of his family weighing heavily on his mind. It felt wonderful to have a hot bath and to change into fresh, clean clothes, but Tristan wished that his troubles could wash away, just as the sweat and grime had. He could put on some fresh, clean clothes, but it didn't change how he felt inside.

After tending to the egg, he crawled onto his bed, delighted at its softness. Back at Canyon City he had to sleep on a bunk that was literally carved into a stone wall and even though there had been a mattress between him and the stone, it was too thin to be comfortable. A short nap would be perfect after a long day of traveling, but just before he drifted off to sleep, Celesta tapped on his bedroom door.

"Come in." He called out, groggily.

Celesta stepped in. "Mother and Father are working in the restaurant. When are you going to go down and greet them? They will be so surprised and happy to see you."

"Well, since the news I'm bringing isn't exactly good news, I wasn't sure if popping in at the restaurant among all the hustle would be the greatest idea." Tristan explained. He lay on his back, gazing up at the wooden ceiling rafters. Throughout the years he'd memorized the patterns and knots in the wood, making pictures out of them in his mind.

"I think you're just stalling." Celesta replied. "It's as good a time as ever. Besides, you must be very hungry after traveling for a few days." She knew the mention of food would motivate him.

"True. I _am_ hungry." Tristan realized that was probably why he hadn't drifted off to sleep sooner; the bad combination of an empty stomach and a full mind.

"I'm going down to eat some supper. Why don't you come with me? It will go fine." Celesta said soothingly.

It did not go fine.

When Tristan followed his sister into the kitchen, his mother, Sarilla, was stirring a pot of curried soup while she rattled off a list of orders to the other workers who were darting in and out of the kitchen. The woman had almond shaped eyes, pale skin, and dark hair pinned up out of her way with a scarf tied over her head, and she wore a simple dress with an apron tied over it.

Tristan's eyes darted around the busy kitchen, realizing that his father was nowhere to be seen at the moment.

Sarilla lifted the ladle and tasted the soup while glancing up to see who was coming in the back entrance. When she recognized her son, she nearly choked and dropped the ladle into the pot.

The next thing Tristan knew, his mother had reached him, embracing him joyfully.

"My son! You're back! What a wonderful surprise!" She tried to kiss his forehead, but the bandanna he wore was in the way. "Now what's this all about?" She tapped the material. "You look like a young rogue ready for mischief, not a Skybax Rider ready to take on important flight missions."

Tristan shrugged his way out of the hug. "Hi, Mother." He tried to sound enthused, but the anxiety over what he would soon have to explain overpowered the joy at seeing his mother.

Sarilla stepped back and happily surveyed her son, but her excitement soon deflated into concern as she noticed his defeated demeanor. Her eyes darted over to Celesta, but the girl merely shrugged and dropped her gaze to the floor.

Sarilla turned to one of the kitchen workers. "You'll have to spare me for just a little while. My son dropped by for an unexpected visit."

Tristan glanced at the worker, but did not recognize the woman. She must've been hired sometime after he'd left for Canyon City.

"Of course. The supper rush seems to have slowed down by now anyway." The woman replied with an amiable smile.

Sarilla grasped Tristan's hand and led him into the storeroom, away from the chaos of the kitchen. "Cedric!" She called.

Cedric, Tristan's father, held a tablet in one hand, making marks on it with a sharpened charcoal stick while he counted supplies lined up on the shelves. His light blue eyes were filled with concentration. He sported a neatly trimmed, sandy hued beard and mustache, a look which Tristan thought he might like to try out himself when he was a couple of years older maybe. Tristan rubbed his own chin and upper lip, which now felt smooth since earlier he'd shaved away the dark shadow of stubble which had appeared after three days of traveling.

A navy blue cap, cocked slightly to one side adorned Cedric's sandy blonde head and he wore a lightweight shirt and an embroidered vest and loose fitting pants and a simple belt. The outfit was suitable for working around the restaurant doing maintenance and such, but Tristan still missed seeing his father in his tough looking convoy guard armor and helmet. But Cedric hadn't worked as a convoy guard for some years now. He had suddenly stopped working as a guard shortly after bringing home Sekani, the orphaned deinonychus. The man's brow creased slightly as he concentrated and mumbled to himself quietly while he scratched out his figures on the tablet.

Sarilla cleared her throat. "Cedric." She said again sharply, to get his attention. The man looked up, then his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized his son and he fumbled to keep from dropping the tablet and charcoal stick.

"What?" The man said. "What are you doing here? Did graduation happen already?" He grinned from ear to ear, stepping forward and hugged Tristan, thumping his back proudly.

"Well, yes." Tristan replied, unable to look his father in the eyes.

Celesta remained quiet up until now, but decided that she might try and help explain things. "Graduation didn't go as he planned." She said, grimly.

Both parents went silent then, looking back and forth between Tristan and Celesta.

"I didn't...um…" Tristan mumbled, lowering his eyes to the flagstone floor. Finishing that sentence suddenly felt impossible.

"You didn't graduate?" Sarilla said, looking confused.

"It…it was a disaster." Tristan explained. He glanced up again to see both parents gazing at him with shocked expressions. He plunged on, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. "To make a long story short, my skybax partner got in a fight with some angry skybaxes and she…she…" He turned away, alarmed at how quickly tears welled up in his eyes. He clenched his teeth, determined to keep from crying in front of his parents.

Celesta quickly covered for him. "His skybax partner died." She said softly.

Cedric and Sarilla continued to stare in silence, momentarily numbed by the appalling news. Tristan felt as if he couldn't bear their silence, but he couldn't seem to come up with any fitting words to say at the moment either.

"Tristan, my dear." Sarilla finally said. "Come." She held her arms out to him, offering him a hug, but Tristan shook his head, afraid that he would burst into tears like a child if he accepted the hug. He crossed his arms stubbornly and bravely lifted his chin.

Cedric stepped forward and squeezed his son's shoulder. "I am sorry, son. You're going to have to explain. I've never heard of that happening before."

"There is some current strife going on among the canyon skybaxes." Tristan replied, cautiously. He did not want to indicate in any way that he might've been the one to stir things up in the first place.

"I take it you know what's going on with them then?"

"Kind of." Tristan kept his head up, but he couldn't look his father in the eyes at the moment. "You remember when I messaged you about Uncle Drake's accident?"

"Yes."

"That was a result from the troubles with some of the skybaxes."

"Hmm. Drake has visited since then and he didn't really have much to say about it. He claimed he couldn't remember what happened. All we know is that he had a bad fall which is not uncommon for a Rider, especially for my brother, who has always been a bit of a daredevil. And now you're telling me that there is more to it?"

Tristan nodded. "Pterosaurs in general are territorial and they don't always get along with one another which results in battles from time to time. Uncle Drake got caught in one. And later, Twilight was caught in the middle of one too. That's all I wish to say about it right now." Tristan said, determined to keep from having to explain too deeply about the matter.

"But you're not going to give up, right?" Cedric said, watching his son's reaction closely. "You'll go back and try again, won't you?"

Tristan shook his head.

"Now I know you better than that. You're not a quitter. You can still become a Rider." Cedric urged.

"Not without a skybax partner, I can't." Tristan replied, bitterly.

"But you can learn to bond with another." Cedric persisted.

"It's not that simple."

"I know things are tough for you right now and I hate hearing that you had to go through something so awful, but it doesn't mean you can't go back and try again."

"No. Not now. I can't." Tristan raised his voice slightly in his agitation.

"Cedric's tone softened. "I didn't say you had to right now. Give it some time, but I want to see you succeed at this. You pestered me for years to make it possible for you to get into Rider training. Right now you may say that you're not going back, but I know you better than that. I know you'll go back and try again at some point. I think that deep down, you know that too. You just haven't managed to crack through that shell yet."

Tristan cringed at his father's usage of the word, 'shell.' It was used figuratively, referencing to the shell of an egg, and that he had not yet broken through. In other words, he wasn't mature enough or ready to take on a habitat partnership.

Sarilla placed a hand on her husband's arm. "Don't push him." She urged. "He's been through a lot. It may be for the better that he doesn't want to go back. It can be dangerous work, after all." She had never wanted Tristan to train to become a Skybax Rider in the first place.

Cedric blew out his breath and rubbed his forehead. "It sounds like we've got a lot of catching up to do."

Celesta glanced at Tristan and even though she said nothing, he could feel her unspoken words weighing heavy on his mind. He knew she wondered if he would bring up the subject of the nocturnal skybax and the orphaned egg, but he just wasn't ready for that. Besides, it was too long of a story to repeat while they were all standing in the store room with the busy sounds of the restaurant kitchen in the background.

"Why don't we all go eat some supper?" Sarilla suggested. "We can do some more catching up then."

"But what about Tiana?" Tristan asked. "And Sekani?"

"Remember?" Celesta piped up. "I told you she was out at her dance lesson and Sekani went with her."

"Oh. Right. I forgot." Tristan said, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "It's been a long day."

"Come then." Sarilla said. "We won't wait up for them. If we did, we'd all end up too hungry and then we'd probably all just be cranky toward one another."

Cedric smiled slightly. "Very true. Besides, you'll need to gain some energy to see your sister." He teased. "She's going to be ecstatic to see you again."

Supper was delicious and Tristan thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was challenging to keep the conversation from entering difficult grounds. He did his best to ask questions about how all their lives had been while he was away, but his family was also immensely curious about what Rider training was like. He managed to fill them in on lots of interesting details and still dance around the subject of nocturnal skybaxes and an orphaned egg. However, he suspected that his father knew he was holding back a lot of information.

After supper, Tristan returned to his room and sat down on the window seat in his bedroom and pushed open the shutters. He practiced breathing deeply like he'd learned to do during his stay at the Tentpole of the Sky. The evening air smelled so different here in Sauropolis. It smelled of food, flowers, a hint of dinosaur dung, and if he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could even detect a slight smell of salt water drifting in from the bay. Back in the canyons the night air usually smelled of dust and junipers, and when the breeze was blowing just right, it brought in the sharp smells of tomato, okra, and pepper plants which grew in the villagers' garden patches.

Someone knocked on Tristan's bedroom door, breaking his concentration on deep breathing. Slowly, he turned around. There was hardly such a thing as alone time in Sauropolis. He'd gotten used to having plenty of solitary time to think away from others out in the canyons. He already missed all those hikes he'd experienced, exploring, and getting to know the environment of the skybaxes.

He could hear the intruders at his door before he even reached it. Claws clicked on the wooden floor, announcing the presence of a deinonychus impatiently shifting back and forth, and a series of girlish giggles no doubt came from Tiana, his sister who was a year and eight months younger than himself.

Tristan opened the door and his visitors fairly tumbled over one another into the room. He had to quickly step out of the way to avoid being run over by the rowdy pair.

Tiana practically danced around the room in her delight at seeing her brother. "I can't believe you're really home! It's so good to have you back, even if it means I can't have your room after all."

"Sekani followed the girl around the room too, a sloppy grin on his face while he grunted his agreement. Tristan was a little surprised at how much the young deinonychus had grown since he'd last seen him. When he'd left for skybax training, the creature seemed to be all legs and tail, not to mention the pair of feet that seemed too big for the rest of his body. Now Sekani was nearly taller than himself, muscles bulging, sickle shaped foot claws looking impressive—not to mention intimidating—and that long tail was big enough to knock someone over. In this case, it was something. Down went the basket off of the shelf where he kept all the ribbons he'd won at athletic events over the past years. The colorful strips of material spilled out over the floor.

"Hey now, calm yourselves." Tristan ordered, diving forward to rescue the ribbons before they got trampled.

After Sekani realized what he'd done, he immediately helped pick up the ribbons and return them to the basket. "Shorry." He said in a deep growly voice.

Tristan nearly dropped the basket all over again at hearing the deinonychus speak.

"What?!"

"Shorry."

Tiana giggled again. "He said sorry. Now close your mouth, Tristan, before you choke on a fly."

Tristan closed his mouth, but his eyes still reflected his surprise.

Tiana took the basket from him and returned it to the shelf. "Sekani practices every day with new words in our language even though it isn't as easy for him to speak them as it is for some dinosaurs." There was a tone of pride in her voice.

"Sekani flashed a toothy grin, a trait he'd picked up from his human family.

Tristan shook his head in amazement. "Well I'm impressed, Sekani." He held out a hand in the Dinotopian greeting. "It's good to see you again. Breathe Deep." Sekani touched Tristan's palm and growled something which Tiana informed him was his effort to say, "Seek Peace."

"We just got back from dance class." Tiana said while she squeezed her brother in an overjoyed hug. "Mother and Father said that you were home. I didn't believe them at first. But it's true."

Tristan peeled his sister's arms away from him. "Yeah, I've been home all evening. You couldn't have been away at dance class all that time." He smiled and tugged her sandy blonde ponytail. Tiana was the only one of the three siblings who had inherited her father's lighter hued hair.

Tiana jumped back, fussing with her hair. "Well, it's true…Sekani and I were—well—um…"

"Staying out of mischief, I hope?" Tristan said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Well, it depends what you consider mischief." Tiana dropped her gaze and twiddled with her birthstone ring which she wore on one of her fingers. It was purple amethyst, her favorite color. Sekani suddenly decided to stand by the window and watch the activities on the street below.

Tristan decided not to pry any further. He would save that for later in case she asked him more than he wanted to tell about his stay in the canyons.

"As if she'd read his thoughts, Tiana said "So are you an Apprentice Rider now? Did you fly here so we can see your skybax companion?"

Tristan winced at the question. He'd hoped that his parents would've told Tiana the news so he wouldn't have to go through it all over again.

"Come on, Tristan, tell me." Tiana begged. "It's nearly dark out now, but if we hurry we could still make it to the rookery before dark. I really want to see the skybax." She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him to the door.

Tristan dug in his heels and wrenched his hand out of his sister's eager grasp. "No."

Tiana's looked surprised. "No?"

Sekani turned around and watched Tristan closely.

Tristan rubbed his forehead, trying to find the right words.

Tiana didn't wait for him to think. "What do you mean by no? What's wrong?"

Tristan gritted his teeth. "Tiana, there isn't a skybax for you to see. If I'd flown here on one, I would've been here days ago. I had to travel the conventional way. Listen I'm not…not…um…I'm not an official Rider yet." He said the last few words in a rush.

Tiana stood still as if trying to let her brother's words sink in.

"Grrrrwhhhy?" It was Sekani who spoke this time, gruff, but distinct.

For some reason it seemed worse hearing the question come from a dinosaur. Tristan felt the sudden impulse to grab his backpack and leave again so he wouldn't have to keep explaining his dilemma. He sighed heavily and motioned to the bed. "Why don't you sit down for a minute. It's going to take me awhile to explain."

Tiana slipped off her sandals and sat down on the bed cross legged. "I'm listening." She said, her brow creased slightly with apprehension. She'd never imagined her brother's return would be anything like this.

Sekani's eyes reflected more questions though he didn't say anything more.

Tristan strode over to the window and moodily gazed outside.

Tiana cleared her throat impatiently. "We're waiting."

Tristan took a deep breath and told his story. He made sure to use the version he'd given to his parents, the one that said very little about nocturnal skybaxes and didn't mention the egg. So far, Celesta was the only one he'd entrusted more details to and he still wasn't sure that his family would take the rest of the information safely. He was ready to do anything to keep the skybax egg away from a Hatchery even if it meant not trusting the information to people within his own family.

When he finished, Tiana still remained speechless, which was unlike her. It made Tristan feel uneasy. "Listen," he said, "I'm sorry I've disappointed everyone. I myself am at a loss of what to do."

Sekani scratched at the wooden floor with one of his claws. Tristan struggled to keep from plugging his ears to block out the grating sound, small as it was.

Tiana slipped down from her seat on the bed and approached her brother who had been pacing the entire time he told the story. She hugged him silently.

Tristan wasn't used to her being so quiet. He looked down to see tears in the girl's eyes and then he finally understood. Tiana never knew what to say when people were dealing with really tough situations such as a loss of a loved one.

"It's okay." Tristan said. "You don't have to say anything."

Tiana nodded. "But you know I care, right?" She said through a sniffle.

"Yes. Everyone in my family cares, and that's why I want to see them. My family is…is everything to me."

Tiana gazed out the window, her eyes filled with unspoken thoughts. Tristan waited, knowing that she would get through the shock of the news soon and then her usual flood of speech would begin.

"Maybe it would help if you went to Treetown." Tiana said.

"Huh?" Tristan was prepared for her conversation, but that first comment caught him off guard.

"Treetown." Tiana repeated. "I've heard that it's a place that helps young people learn to communicate with dinosaurs better."

Tristan swallowed his indignation and tried to keep his tone level. "That's with dinosaurs, not skybaxes. Besides, I've communicated with plenty of dinosaurs."

Sekani snorted and looked as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't because of his limited vocabulary in the human tongue. Instead, he scratched a little too hard on the floor, leaving a small mark.

Tiana shrugged. "Well, it's just a thought. I've heard it's a lot of fun there. I've wanted to go myself, but Mother and Father would like me to be here for now to help in the restaurant. They're training me, you know. I think they plan on passing the restaurant on to me someday." She sounded uncertain as to whether she liked that prospect or not.

"Well, you certainly would be good at it." Tristan said, eager to get the conversation directed away from himself.

Tiana sighed. "Hmmm…" She fiddled with her ring again. "Well…maybe."

Tristan glanced toward the door. "Listen, have you had supper yet?"

"Yeah, but that was quite a while ago."

"Same here. Why don't we sneak down to the restaurant kitchen and snitch some coconut cookies or something of that sort?"

Tiana's eyes immediately lit up, but she seemed a little hesitant with the idea. "We might get caught. Cook Lavonia might still be down there finishing up last minute things for tomorrow's menu." Cook Lavonia who often worked the evening shifts was a snappish, no nonsense woman who happened to be an amazing cook, but everyone knew to keep out of her way. Her wooden spoon was notorious for leaving red welts on the knuckles of the greedy hands that tried to snitch her delicious creations.

"Come on, it's worth the risk, isn't it? We used to do this all the time." Tristan pulled his sister toward the door.

Tiana grinned. "Yeah, well, since you've left, she's gotten sharper. It's been getting harder and harder to get past her."

"Aha. Well then, I'll have to teach you some new sneaking skills from the master who's been away for so long."

Tiana giggled.

Tristan clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shhhh. If you can't keep quiet now, you'll never make it down there."

Tiana nodded.

Tristan released her and opened the door.

Sekani bounded forward, not about to be left out on the fun.

"Tristan," Tiana whispered. "I'm really glad you're home again. Sekani and I both missed you an awful lot."

Tristan smiled, but inside he felt confused. He'd missed his family as well, but he still felt like he'd left part of himself back in the canyons. And then there was the problem with the skybax egg. For now it was buried deep within his backpack, safe and warm, but he knew it couldn't stay there forever. It was only a matter of time before it would hatch.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

He knew procrastinating was a bad idea, but Tristan found himself caught up in it anyway. Several days passed and with each one he woke up to the sounds of the city drifting in through the window. Each day he pulled the pillow over his head and groaned—not because of the clamor of the city, but because of the fact that he needed to tell the rest of his family about the egg. And each day he rose, prepared for the day, tended to the egg, then went down to the restaurant for a cup of coffee to wake him up. Then his mother would find him trying to blend in with the breakfast guests. She would scold him, pull him into the back, and put him to work, just like the old days—the days before he'd left for Canyon City for Skybax Rider training.

Each day as Tristan tied on an apron and rolled up his sleeves, he resolved that he would tell the rest of his family about the egg that evening. But evening would come and it never felt like just the right time to bring up the subject of the skybax egg.

Celesta helped him keep an eye on the egg, but she often urged him to tell the rest of the family about it. "At this rate, it's going to hatch before you tell anyone else about it, and then everyone will be shocked and upset that you never mentioned it earlier." She warned him.

Also, Tiana persistently brought up the subject of Treetown, but Tristan didn't want to hear about it. And every now and then his father mentioned how beneficial it would be to go back to Canyon City and try again. It seemed as if only his mother was perfectly content to have him back home, 'safe and sound,' as she put it.

Tristan tried to hide out in his room when he could in order to keep a close watch over the egg. However, most citizens of Sauropolis spent little time in their actual homes, preferring to attend various events that were constantly going on in the city. Because of this, Sarilla grew concerned and tried to get Tristan to open up more and talk about what happened with Twilight. She did not know that he was watching over a skybax egg. Tristan dodged her questions in any way he could.

One evening after making sure the egg was well tucked in and warm, he decided to escape for awhile and enjoy a stroll along the busy city streets. This way his mother couldn't corner him in his room and try to get him to talk.

He dressed in a nice set of clothes, clean pants with no patches, a long sleeved white cotton shirt, and a classy button up vest. He donned one of his finer hats, a tricorn with a fine archaeopteryx feather adorning it. He reluctantly removed the bandanna, deciding that it clashed with the finer clothes, but after a moment's contemplation, he kept the carnivore tooth necklace on. The citizens of Sauropolis generally dressed in their finest clothes for socializing outside of daily chores and hats were always the fashion, almost a mandatory accessory for any social event. Not only were they fashionable, but also practical for shielding against the rain showers which frequently blew in from the ocean.

Once outside, Tristan took a deep breath, enjoying the crispness in the evening air since an afternoon rain shower had blown through earlier, cooling the air and glossing the streets with water. The cumulonimbus clouds above were parting, letting in the last of the sun's golden rays.

He heard music drifting in on the evening breeze and he soon wandered on over to the source of the pleasant sound. There, parked in front of a flower shop, was a small band of street musicians, each dressed in bright colored clothes in order to attract the attention of a potential audience. A young boy pounded out a beat on a small hand drum, a tall girl piped out a merry tune on a flute, and a teenage boy strummed on a mandolin, while another girl danced to the music, swaying and swirling a colorful scarf in the air as she moved. The dancer did not wear a hat and her sandy blonde hair flowed freely down her back, swirling along with the scarf.

Next to the musicians stood a fidgety gallimimus who wore a soft saddle with several bags strapped to it. The creature's head was adorned with a tall looking hat which matched the one the musicians wore. At the creature's feet sat a basket in which passers by occasionally placed something in it as a gesture of appreciation for the entertainment.

The dancer turned a circle and Tristan stopped short in surprise as he recognized the girl. It was Tiana. He could tell by her expression of concentration that she had not noticed him.

So maybe this is why his sister had not returned home until so much later the day he had arrived home. He remembered their conversation and how she had not filled him in on the details of why she had returned home so much later than her dance lesson would've kept her. Hmm. He knew that his mother would much rather see Tiana performing on a prestigious theater stage rather than in the streets. Tiana was probably doing this without her parents knowing it.

Glancing around, Tristan did not see Sekani anywhere, which meant that the deinonychus was either keeping Celesta company at the moment, or was hiding nearby so as not to make any passers by nervous and spoiling the effect of the performance.

Before he could contemplate on the matter much further, Tristan felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to find himself looking into a pair of familiar blue eyes peeking out from under a wide brimmed straw hat which was adorned with a ribbon of colorful orchids.

"Oh hi!" Poppy Harper said in an energetic tone. "I almost didn't recognize you." The girl's eyes swept over him. "I mean, you look different without that bandanna and your clothes are so clean and there's no heavy looking backpack now. I wondered if I was ever going to run into you again and I was beginning to think you'd left the city for good. So where've you been hiding out?"

Tristan shifted uncomfortably. He jammed his hands into the side pockets of his pants and dropped his gaze to the cobblestones at his feet. "Well, I've been working a lot." He knew it wasn't a direct answer, but maybe it would be enough.

"So are you out this evening seeing the sights then? Those performers are pretty good, aren't they?"

Tristan nodded. Then, concerned that Tiana might catch sight of him, he moved out of view, stepping behind a parked cart piled high with fresh cut grass from the meadows outside of Sauropolis. Carts of meadow grass were a common sight along the streets of Sauropolis since the people made an effort to keep them stocked for the hard working sauropods of the city to graze on.

"I think it would be nice to be able to dance as well as that girl does." Poppy went on, trailing after Tristan. "Don't you think so?"

Tristan shrugged. He wasn't about to announce the fact that in his childhood his mother had forced him to go through some dance training and he could probably dance every bit as good as that girl who happened to be none other than his very own sister.

"It looks so fun, doesn't it? And what about the musicians? Have you ever wanted to play and instrument?"

Tristan shrugged again.

Poppy looked at him quizzically and Tristan could tell that she was dying to ask him more questions, but unlike the first time he'd met her, she was obviously trying hard to be polite and not pry too much. Tristan didn't feel like offering any more information so he decided to question her for a change. "So…what about you? What are you up to right now?"

Poppy's face broke into a huge smile. "I'm out with my family for an evening stroll. We like to do that sometimes, you know, as a family." The girl wore a pale blue dress with a skirt that fell just below the knee. It suddenly occurred to Tristan that her eyes were nearly the same color as the dress. Then it also occurred to him that his mother had taught him to take off his hat when speaking to a lady. Hesitantly, he reached up and pulled off his hat, briefly running his fingers through his hair, while wondering if the gesture even really mattered. So far Poppy didn't seem to be the 'stuffy manners' type, as some of the Sauropolis citizens could be.

When Poppy realized that the dark haired young man was looking into her eyes, she dropped her gaze and absentmindedly tucked a blonde curl behind her ear.

Tristan looked away then, scratched at the back of his head, and jammed the hat back on, feeling silly. He glanced around, wondering where this family the girl spoke of could be.

As if reading his thoughts, Poppy giggled. "They all went in there." She pointed to an antique shop next door with old relics cluttering the sidewalk in front. There were so many things on display crammed into the window that it was almost impossible to catch a glimpse of the shop inside.

"I was afraid I'd break something so I decided to wait out here. It's a good thing too, otherwise I wouldn't have seen you."

Tristan looked down and kicked at a pebble, thinking that it _wasn't_ a good thing that she'd seen him.

"I see you're not carrying that huge pack anymore. You must've successfully made that delivery." Poppy went on, sensing that the young man might leave then, but she really wanted to keep him awhile longer. She was so curious about what mysteries those dark eyes held.

"Huh?" Tristan looked up quickly.

"The egg, silly. You must've gotten it to the Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery after all. You know, where it can be taken care of until someone can transport it to the nearest hatchery."

Tristan cleared his throat nervously. How was he going to safely answer? "Oh yeah, that. Um…well, the egg is good and safe now." He said, focusing his attention back to the cobblestones at his feet.

Poppy nodded. "Good." There was a moment of awkward silence and Tristan decided that now was the time to hurry away. "You know, I really should be—"

"So, are you a Skybax Rider?" Poppy cut in before he could finish.

Tristan's head shot up. "What? A Rider? No way. What made you think that?" He shifted nervously.

"Well, when we parted ways the last time, you said 'Fly High' with that showy salute that Riders always use. You did it so naturally too, like you'd done it all your life."

Tristan looked away down the street as he struggled to think of what to say. For now, the musicians and the unexpected dancer was forgotten about. "Uh, yeah, that." He muttered. "I was uh…messing around…just…being stupid, I guess."

Poppy was just about to ask another question when the door to the antique shop opened, creaking loudly on its hinges.

Tristan immediately jumped on the opportunity for a distraction. "Hey, is that them? Your family?"

A beefy looking man with dirty blonde hair and a thick, reddish beard stepped through the door, followed by a woman and two boys, one looking as if he were in his early teens and the other around seven or eight. The man was holding a squirming little girl that looked like she could be two or three.

"Yes, that is my family." Poppy said brightly. She bounded over to them. "Hey, Mama, Papa! Meet Tristan." Before he even knew what was happening, she had him by the hand and was practically dragging him over to meet her family.

The man shifted the toddler over to one side and practically crushed Tristan's hand in a hearty handshake. "Pleased to meet you, young man."The man said in a booming tone.

Tristan withdrew his hand and rubbed it, wondering how the man wasn't crushing the little girl cradled in his huge arm.

"The name's Brutus. This here is my lovely wife, Azalea, my boys, Kale and Lander, and apparently you've met Poppy already. Oh yes, and I can't forget little Daisy here, can I?" He brushed the tip of his wide finger over the child's nose.

The toddler smiled, tugging at one of her golden curls. She looked at Tristan with big, curious eyes which looked as blue as Poppy's did. "Ith-un." She said, pointing at him.

Poppy laughed. "Daisy is pretty good with names even though she can't pronounce everything right just yet." Then she turned to her parents. "Hey, Mama, Papa? Maybe Tristan could join us for awhile."

Tristan started to protest, but his words were immediately drowned out in the noise of the family voicing their agreement. Tristan was then swept away with the boisterous family, popping in and out of shops, stopping every once in a while to watch a street performer or to chat for a moment with a familiar acquaintance. Tristan did not see Tiana and her friends for the rest of the evening so he assumed they must've finished for the evening or else moved on to a street that didn't happen to be on the Harper family's route. Last of all they stopped at an overstuffed little diner for a treat of sticky buns and hot tea.

Tristan found himself squished in between Brutus and Daisy. By the time everyone was finished, his ears were ringing from Brutus's bellowing laugh and everyone's happy chatter. He tried to wipe off the sticky icing that Daisy somehow managed to spread all over herself _and_ him, but he still couldn't get it all off.

During the conversation, Tristan learned that Brutus was a construction engineer and Azalea was a school teacher. Daisy, who wasn't quite two years old accompanied her mother to school while a struthiomimus kept an eye on her during teaching sessions. Lander was still in school, Kale was training be a firefighter, and Poppy, like her mother, enjoyed teaching, but taught a much younger set of students than her mother.

"So tell us about your family, Tristan." Azalea said as she leaned across the table to pour the last of the tea into his cup. She was a pretty woman with wavy light brown hair tied with a ribbon at the back of her neck. He realized then that Poppy had her mother's bright blue eyes. He started to shake his head to let her know that he didn't want any more tea, but Lander looked at him so seriously that he stopped, realizing that refusing the gesture might be a sign of disrespect in the odd traditions of this family. So instead, he smiled and pushed his cup forward. Lander's face immediately brightened.

"Yes, do tell us about your family." Poppy said.

Tristan cleared his throat. "Well, uh, I guess I could say they're a lot more fun to be around than me."

Everyone laughed and Daisy clapped her sticky hands together even though she didn't really know what was so funny.

Tristan realized that he didn't know what was so funny either.

"Oh, come now, Tristan." Said Azalea. "We all think you're wonderful."

Everyone chipped in their agreement.

"Tristan decided that they probably thought everyone they met was truly wonderful and loads of fun, but he kept this thought to himself.

"Well, my parents run the Sauropolis Star restaurant—"

Before he could finish the whole family interrupted, expressing their admiration over the fact that it was _his_ parents that ran the fine restaurant. Tristan knew the restaurant had a good reputation, but the high praise that came gushing from the family seemed too much.

When there was a slight lull in the wave of praise, Tristan snagged the moment to move on. "Anyway, I have two younger sisters." He looked at Poppy. "They're probably about your age. One is seventeen and the other just recently turned fifteen."

Poppy smiled. "Yes, I'm seventeen. I would love to meet your sisters. But how old or you then, may I ask?" She giggled slightly. "No wait. I want to guess."

Tristan took a sip of tea and waited with an amused smile on his face.

"You're twenty-three." She finally said.

Tristan's smile wilted. "Do I look that old?"

"I wanna guess." Lander said. "You're twenty-one."

"No, but that's closer."

Lander shot a smug look at his sister. "Hah."

Poppy rolled her eyes at her youngest brother, then focused her attention on Tristan again. "Well. My guess was based on my first impression of you a few days ago. I guess you looked a bit travel worn which made you appear older than you really were. Let me guess again." She paused, scrutinizing him from where she sat next to her mother on the other side of the table.

"You're…nineteen?"

"Almost." Tristan replied. One more month to go."

"Oh. Wow. How could I have guessed so far off? How embarrassing." Poppy blushed and shrank back into her chair.

Tristan wondered if it was all the rough stuff he'd been through during Skybax Rider training, which made him appear older. Training had been harder than he'd anticipated and the troubles he and the other Riders had run into during their trek through the Forbidden Mountains had been nothing short of traumatic. But he couldn't tell this family about any of that. Was he aging too quickly? He rubbed his forehead, hoping no premature wrinkles were forming there. Then he glanced down at his tea. Maybe he should switch to drinking more tea and less coffee.

Azalea noticed the troubled look that sprang into Tristan's eyes, but she chose to not press him about what was on his mind. "Tell us about your sisters." She said, smiling warmly.

"Well." Tristan said, glancing at Poppy, whose cheeks were still rosy. "You remind me of Tiana in some ways. She's bubbly and fun loving, friendly, and can be pretty talkative at times. Celesta, on the other hand, is much quieter and very shy, but she loves music and has the sweetest singing voice I've ever heard." He paused and smiled. "But she wouldn't like if she knew I said that. She rarely sings in front of anyone because she is too shy."

"Are they pretty?" Said Kale, bluntly and immediately received a cuff over the head by his father and a stern look from his mother.

Tristan smothered the impulse to laugh. Kale had definitely hit the stage of being interested in girls. Lander, on the other hand, wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Actually." Tristan said, "They're not just pretty, they're marvelously beautiful. But," he added, looking pointedly at Kale, "They have a deinonychus friend who guards them closely and he isn't exactly what you'd call tame. He was an orphan from the Rainy Basin when my parents adopted him."

"From the Rainy Basin?" Kale repeated, his eyes huge now.

"Yup. However, since he grew up with us in Sauropolis, he does pretty good about remaining tame. Well, _most_ of the time, that is. He's been known to get a little violent toward strangers that look like they could be a threat." Tristan knew he was going a little too far, but it was fun to see the boy getting so uncomfortable.

Brutus burst into a trumpet blast of laughter and gave Tristan a hearty slap on the shoulder, which caused the last of the tea in his cup to slosh out over his arm and onto the table. No one seemed to notice though, except for Daisy who reached out and stuck a dimpled finger in the puddle of the tea on the table top and tasted it.

"Boy, you've got a sense of humor after all." Brutus guffawed. "It was subtle though. We're going to have to work on you a little."

Tristan mopped up the tea with a cloth napkin and resisted the urge to touch his shoulder which felt like it might be bruising. Seriously, how was it that this whole family wasn't black and blue?

After they were all outside on the street again, Tristan immediately looked for a way to escape. "Whew, it must be getting late." He said, glancing up at the sky, which appeared like a black sheet. Due to a thick cloud cover, there were no winking stars.

Azalea voiced her agreement while she bounced Daisy on her hip. The toddler rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Papa? Could Tristan come to my birthday celebration? And his sisters too? I'd love to meet them." Poppy said.

The whole family erupted in excitement and Tristan knew that if he turned down the invitation they would all be disappointed. "Well, uh—" He began, trying to find a gentle way to turn the invitation down.

"It's settled then." Brutus bellowed, offering another friendly slap to Tristan's shoulder.

Tristan gritted his teeth.

"An invitation will be sent to the restaurant." Azalea said with a pleased look on her face.

"Um..." Tristan said while the family smothered him with goodbyes. He wasn't even sure if anyone heard his reply. He could've just as well said "no" after all and none of them would've noticed.

"I'll bring the invitation myself." Poppy said softly so that the rest of her family couldn't hear.

"Uh, okay." Tristan replied, feeling confused and completely overwhelmed with the girl's vivacious family.

"Don't worry." Poppy added with a smile. "I won't bring them."

Tristan blew out his breath in relief as he watched the busy family move on down the street, the warm glow of the night lanterns spilling down on them while they chattered to one another.

Poppy looked behind her and waved. Tristan started to raise his hand to use the Rider's salute, but caught himself at it this time and since his hand was already to the level of his head, he quickly snatched off his hat and waved it before slapping it back down onto his thick dark hair. He turned around quickly and all but ran back home.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Tristan was ready to relax and spend some time alone, but the moment he stepped through the doorway of the apartment, his hopes for a quiet evening were quickly smashed. He had just closed the door behind him and removed his hat and hung it on the hat and jacket rack, when Tiana popped into the entryway, her eyes glowing with excitement. Sekani followed right behind her, snorting his own excited greeting.

"Tristan! There you are." Tiana rushed at him and grabbed his arm, pulling him down the hall. "Come to the sitting room. We have company."

Asking Tiana about her street performing would have to wait until later. Tristan raised his dark eyebrows. "Company?" Tiana always loved company. He, on the other hand, did not as much, especially now that he already felt worn to a frazzle from the Harper family. He really just wanted to go strait to his room, tend to the egg in quiet solitude, and try to make some headway on sorting out his confusing life.

"Yes. Company." Tiana smirked slightly. "It's someone you apparently know quite well."

Tristan stopped short and tugged his arm out of his sister's grasp. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

"What way?"

"Don't act so innocent. Something's up."

"Well yeah, something's up." Tiana replied, rolling her eyes. "We have company."

"No. There's something more. You've wearing that face like when you know I won't like something."

Tiana moved behind her brother so he couldn't see her face. She never had been very good about masking her expressions. "Oh. Stop stalling and just go in there." She pushed against his back and Sekani decided to help, head butting him into the next room.

There, sitting in one of the chairs was a tall, thin, young man with dark hair, twinkling brown eyes, and a charismatic smile which could warm an icy cave in the Forbidden Mountains. He was fully decked out in the red Apprentice Rider's suit, minus the helmet and goggles. Judging by the way his hands moved animatedly, he seemed to be right in the middle of telling a lively story to the rest of the family.

When Tristan, Tiana, and Sekani entered the room, the young man looked up, making eye contact with Tristan. He stopped his story, breaking into a broad smile as he stood and strode forward. "Tristan, my man. It's so good to see you!"

"Tadd?" Tristan said. "It's good to see you too, but…what…what are you doing here?" The young man's full name was Taddeo, but back at Rider training, the cadets had called him Tadd, for short.

Taddeo shook his friend's hand and thumped his back heartily. He stepped back and surveyed Tristan. "I don't believe I've ever seen you in such fancy clothes." He teased.

"Yeah, well, this is Sauropolis. You'll have to get used to it. Everyone dresses very fine here. But you're avoiding my question."

"I'm here on business. You know, flight missions." Taddeo answered, avoiding Tristan's eyes now.

"As in here at Sauropolis, or specifically my home?" Tristan asked, feeling uneasy.

"Both."

"Oh. So…what uh…assignment did you have that sent you here?"

Taddeo's cheerful expression shifted into a concerned look. He sent a fleeting glance toward Tristan's family who were all quietly watching the exchange between the two friends. "Well," Taddeo said, "My mission was to try and find you." His words dropped like a stone in the quiet room.

Tristan hooked his hands into his pockets and shifted his gaze down to the floor.

Cedric cleared his throat. "So, Mr. Giovanni, why were you sent to find my son?"

Tristan glanced up at his father, hoping that the man would not get too upset depending on what Taddeo's answer would be. Cedric flicked his eyes back and forth between the two, the questions evident in his eyes.

"Please sir, just call me Taddeo, or Tadd." Taddeo said, nodding toward the man briefly, then dropped his gaze down to his feet. "So in answer to your question. I uh…ahem…uh." Taddeo seemed to be struggling to get his words out which was unusual for him.

Cedric raised an eyebrow.

"I was sent to make sure that Tristan was alright…and uh…to try and convince him to return."

The room went so silent then that Tristan could hear the faint sounds of the city drifting in through the walls. Before anyone else could comment, he raised his head and looked at Taddeo and pasted on a fake smile. "Yeah. I'm doing just fine. Thanks for checking on me, Tadd."

Taddeo studied his young friend for a moment before speaking again. "I know that look. It's the same one you had that time before you collapsed on the trail up to Pteros. You were _not_ alright."

"I'm assuming you read the note I left. I didn't want anyone to follow me." Tristan said, ignoring Taddeo's comment.

"Hey, man, you have to understand that we needed to make sure that you were alright." Taddeo explained. "The notes you left were not only brief, but the news was shocking. I wanted to go out and look for you right away, but our instructor advised against it. He said that you would need your space. But after not hearing anything from you for nearly two weeks now, we were getting concerned. I can see that you've arrived home safely, but couldn't you have at least sent word back to Canyon City that you were safe and sound so no one would be wondering about you?"

Tristan shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. I'm sorry. I guess I didn't think about that."

"I realize that things were hard, but you should've stayed."

Tristan shook his head. "No. I had to get away. You don't understand."

"But so suddenly? Do you realize what that's categorized as?"

"Please, it wasn't that."

"Yes, I'm afraid it was."

"Wait a minute." Sarilla said, cutting into the conversation. "Tristan, did you _run away_ from Canyon City?"

Tristan bit his lip, unable to answer right away.

She turned to Taddeo. "Did he?"

Taddeo shifted uncomfortably. "Well, madam, if taking off very suddenly during the night and only leaving a few brief notes behind that barely explains why counts as running away…then yes."

Sarilla passed a hand over her eyes. "Oh, Tristan…" She muttered, clearly devastated.

Cedric rubbed his forehead in agitation. "Son. You could've handled the situation better."

Tristan didn't want to be angry with Taddeo. The guy had always been there for him and put up with him and all his mistakes, but right now he felt as if he were being pushed into a corner, forced to talk about painful things he had shoved aside and it made him want to lash out at someone. He struggled to keep his emotions under control. He looked at his mother, his father, his sisters, and Sekani. They all looked back at him with mixed expressions of disappointment and concern.

Taddeo ran a hand through his hair and blew out his breath. "Hey man, I'm really sorry about all this. I wouldn't be a friend though if I knew you'd been through something so hard and didn't come and check on you."

Tristan nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Thanks. But I specifically asked in the letter that you would _not_ come after me." His voice sounded tight.

"I didn't right away. I gave you some time. But you can't expect me to stay away forever…also, I was given a mission and it was my duty to carry it out."

Tristan's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. You mentioned that a bit ago. Apparently that mission was to track me down, interrogate me, and try to get me to come back."

Taddeo glanced at the family with an apologetic look on his face before focusing on Tristan again.

"I hate to say it point blank, but the way you left _was_ considered as running away."

"You pretty much said that already. But why was it viewed like that? I was done there. Our instructor had already made it clear that I hadn't passed after graduation. It wasn't running away."

"You didn't make it into Apprentice Rider level, no, but you are still a Rider, a Beginner Rider who hasn't quite finished the last steps yet." Taddeo explained.

"I can't finish when I don't have a skybax to ride." Tristan said, bitterly.

"You should have stayed though." Taddeo urged. "You built up a lot of skill and if you learned to bond with another skybax we could use you—"

"No."

"Just hear me out."

"No." Tristan repeated firmly. "I can't. Not now. It's not that simple."

"I'm not implying that it's simple. It's just that no one wants to see you give up. You have had to go through something that's awful, something that all Riders know that they could have to face at some point, but—"

"No!" Tristan burst out.

Sekani, up until now had listened and watched quietly, but seeing how upset Tristan was with their visitor, he decided to intervene. He pranced up to Taddeo, swishing his tail back and forth like an irritated cat. He glared at the young man and growled menacingly, causing Taddeo to step backward until his back thumped against the wall.

Taddeo shot a concerned look toward the family.

Tiana snapped her fingers to get the deinonychus's attention. "It's alright, Sekani." She said. "I'm pretty sure this guy is a friend."

The dinosaur snorted, but stepped back.

"Tristan." Cedric said gently. "You have never told us what exactly happened to your skybax partner."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I know it's hard, but you should."

"No. Not right now. Please." Tristan unconsciously backed his way toward the doorway of the room.

Taddeo turned to Cedric. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to stir things up like this. I can go for now."

Cedric shook his head. "No, it's fine. There is a lot that we don't know and you're helping bring things out in the open."

Tristan shot a frustrated look toward his father, but Cedric ignored it.

"Go on." Cedric said. "Say what you need to say."

"Taddeo nodded and turned back to Tristan who was glaring at his friend. Taddeo's brows were drawn together in a look of concern. "Tristan. The canyon skybaxes are very disturbed right now. It seems that what happened on graduation day has caused tensions to crop up."

Tristan's frown deepened. "From what I remember, tensions were already there."

"It's worse now."

Tristan glanced at his family, wondering just how much Taddeo was going to manage to get him to say in front of them. They all seemed to be listening intently. "So why do you need me to come back?" He said, tentatively.

"Some people want to know more about the rogue skybaxes and you seem to know the most about them. They want your knowledge…and experience."

Tristan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Look. I know. It's complicated. But you had a connection with the rogue skybaxes. There is talk that if you manage to go about it in the right way, you might be able to work toward finding a way to set things strait again. You know, calm things down." Taddeo looked away for a moment. "But not everyone agrees. Some think that you had a hand in stirring up the trouble and should've never messed with the rogue skybaxes in the first place."

Tristan crossed his arms. "I figured as much. Look, if there are mixed feelings, then you know I can't go back."

"But what about Dark Wing? Even though some others don't think so, I believe you had something good going with him."

"Who is Dark Wing?" Tiana piped up.

Tristan squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

Taddeo looked surprised. "They don't know about Dark Wing?"

Tristan shook his head.

Cedric shifted his attention to the Skybax Rider. "Apparently we don't know about a lot of things. When Tristan told us there were some troubles going on with the canyon skybaxes, he was vague about it. We had no idea he was so closely involved with it."

Sarilla looked worried. "Tristan. Please don't tell me that you had a hand in causing those pterosaur tensions."

Tristan bit his lip. He couldn't say that he didn't. He started pacing the room. "Look. To make a long story short, I met a skybax who I call Dark Wing. He saved my life one night and from that point on we continued to have a growing bond. The problem was that he was a rogue skybax, one belonging to a group that doesn't mix with the other skybaxes—carnivorous ones with an outlook similar to the t-rexes. They keep to themselves mostly. It turned out that the other skybax I was becoming friends with, Twilight, chose to be his mate. That's where the trouble started. It was with the skybaxes themselves, not me. I just happened to get tangled in the mix."

Tristan paused and turned to Taddeo. "You're the one who thinks I should try and make things work out, aren't you? Because I highly doubt it's our instructor. He made it clear to me that he didn't think I should have _anything_ to do with Dark Wing."

Taddeo nodded. "Well, yes. I do. I think it's a dangerous business as it has proved to be already, but you know more about the rogue skybaxes and have a connection with them through Dark Wing. I think that if you pursued things right, you might find a way to find that peace you were always talking about."

"As I said before. No. Not right now. I need more time."

Taddeo sighed giving up the fight for the time being. "I want you to know that if you rethink this, then please send me a message."

Tristan nodded. Then he caught sight of Celesta watching him. He knew what was running through her mind. She wanted him to tell them all about the egg, now that they knew so much more. But no, it was just too much for right now. He shook his head slightly, letting her know that he wasn't ready.

"I think I agree with your instructor, Tristan." Sarilla said. "I don't think you should be involved with those rogue skybaxes. It sounds too dangerous."

Cedric stood and rubbed his mustache moodily. "Taddeo, I appreciate you coming and letting us know more about Tristan and his unfortunate experience. He hasn't wanted to talk much about the skybax companion he lost and we've been giving him some space. It sounds though, that things are more complicated than Tristan let on." He shot a frustrated look at his son.

Tristan looked away, but said nothing in his defense. Why was it so hard to open up about what all had happened back at the canyons? He sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes tiredly. It was good to see his friend, Taddeo, but not like this. Not when the guy was bringing up subjects that he wasn't ready to discuss with his family yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was nerve wracking having Taddeo there that evening. Not only had the Skybax Rider managed to bring a few things out in the open that Tristan had been hiding from his family, but he feared that his presence would somehow bring out even more, such as the hidden skybax egg.

When Taddeo indicated that he was going to head on out for the evening, Sarilla reached out and shook the Skybax Rider's hand. "Taddeo, it was a pleasure to meet you. I know that as a Rider you must be very busy, but I hope that you will find the time to stick around for awhile longer. Do you need a place to stay tonight? We would love for you to stay here."

Tristan bit his lip. If Taddeo stayed, his mother would tell Tristan to give up his bed, although that wasn't his main concern. It was the egg. It would be difficult to tend to it without Taddeo finding out.

Taddeo smiled. "You are most gracious, madam. Thank you for the offer, but I wouldn't want to put you out in any way."

"Riders usually want to spend the night at the rookery, close to their skybax companion." Tristan quickly said to his mother.

Taddeo sent Tristan a puzzled look.

"Oh, but you don't know what you're turning down, Tadd." Tiana suddenly piped up.

Tristan had to consciously keep from frowning at his sister. She was unknowingly making the situation worse.

"Oh?" Taddeo raised an eyebrow.

"There is a restaurant downstairs and this family runs it. There will be all kinds of delicious options for breakfast." Tiana went on, putting on her most charming smile.

Taddeo instantly melted. "I was going to stay at the rookery with Aerial, my skybax partner, but I think she won't mind if I stay the night here this time."

"Good." Tiana said. "Why don't you come down to the restaurant tonight? I will give you a tour of the place and maybe something to snack on before you settle in for the night."

"Tristan." Sarilla said. "He can stay with you. We'll make up a pallet on the floor, but I imagine you'll be gracious and let your guest have the bed."

Tristan chewed on his lower lip. Here it was. Taddeo had been a good friend, but he wasn't sure he wanted to trust the information of the orphaned skybax egg to him, especially since the talkative guy had already blabbed information to his family that he wasn't ready to reveal just yet. How was he going to figure this out? He couldn't give the egg to Celesta, because she and Tiana shared a room. He could just get it over with and tell the whole family about it now. But no, someone might get firm and insist the egg must be taken to a Hatchery. Once again, it was just bad timing.

Tiana snapped her fingers in front of her brother's face. "Hey. What's wrong with you? You look scared." She teased. "Are you afraid your tall friend here will just decide to move in and take over your room?"

Tristan stepped back. "Yeah. Whatever. He'll be gone in the morning. Skybax Riders never stay in one place for very long." He looked at Taddeo and smirked slightly. "I don't know if I will give up my bed though. You can have the pallet on the floor."

Sarilla looked sharply at her son, trying to decide if he was teasing or not.

"Hey, I know you're sore at me for bringing up all that stuff and you really don't want me to stay." Taddeo replied. "I'll just go back to the Rookery for the night."

"You will do no such thing." Sarilla said. "Tristan may be upset about everything that was said this evening, but that doesn't mean I will let him get away with being a terrible host. You will have Tristan's bed for the night." She turned and sent her son a severe expression.

Tristan forced a small smile toward Taddeo. "Looks like you don't have a choice. My mother has spoken."

Sarilla cuffed her son over the head, much to the amusement of everyone else.

Taddeo laughed, then pointed a thumb toward the deinonychus. "Of course, I'll only stay if this guy lets me."

Sekani growled again, but it was not as menacing as the one before.

Tiana put her arms around the creature's neck. "Hey now. Be nice. I told you he was a friend."

Taddeo held out a hand in greeting toward the dinosaur. "Breath deep, Sekani."

After glancing toward Tiana as if making sure she approved, he raised a clawed hand and returned the greeting by touching the human's hand briefly.

"What do you think, Sekani?" Taddeo said, sending a grin in Tristan's direction. "Tristan and I could arm wrestle for that bed, right? And the winner gets it."

Sekani's eyes brightened. He always loved a competition whether he was involved or merely watching, although it was always hard for him to simply watch without getting involved. Sekani stepped up to Tristan and teasingly head butted his arm.

"Ok, ok." Tristan said. "I'll do it. You know this intruder here will lose though." He threw a competitive look at the Skybax Rider.

The family was eager for a change in subject after the difficult one they'd discussed only moments before, so after some urging from Cedric, Tristan and Taddeo were sent to the small dining table for the wrestling match where the rest of the family could watch and cheer. The small table was rarely used for meals since the family usually ate their meals down at the restaurant.

"I'm wrestling the winner." Cedric announced, his blue eyes twinkling. "That way the winner can be subdued just a bit."

"Oh, come on, father." Tristan said. "You are way too confident."

Cedric laughed. "It's not confidence. It's simply fact." He folded his arms over his chest.

Tristan turned to Taddeo. "You don't want to wrestle my father, so count it a good thing to lose to me."

Taddeo arched and eyebrow. "Now who's the one that's way too confident?"

"You know I've got my whole family rooting for me." Tristan replied. "You're going down."

Taddeo laughed. "I'm not worried, but you should be, because you're about to lose in front of all of them."

After a few more friendly verbal jabs at one another, Cedric counted, and the match began.

Tristan had trouble focusing since he was so worried about how he was going to handle the situation with the egg. As a result he lost the match, much to his frustration, although he did give Taddeo a good fight.

Taddeo was sweating and out of breath at the end. "You know, I'll hand it to you, Tristan, you're pretty tough. If I don't watch it, you'll beat me one of these days."

"Yes. I _will_ beat you, and sooner than you think." Tristan growled.

Cedric took his turn and Taddeo lost, rather quickly, too. Tristan at least got some satisfaction out of this.

After the arm wrestling matches were over, Taddeo asked Tristan if he wanted to go with him to the rookery so that he could let his skybax partner know what his plans were for the night, but Tristan turned him down.

"I just thought you might enjoy being around the skybaxes." Taddeo said.

Tristan shook his head.

Sarilla frowned. "You can at least accompany him there." She said. "You know these streets like the back of your hand."

"I think Tadd can find his way back to the rookery just fine. He found his way over here, didn't he?"

"Well, Tristan, if you don't want to go, then I'd like to." Tiana piped up. "I would love to see the rookery."

"You've seen it before." Tristan said.

"Yes, but that was a long time ago during a school trip. It's not the same as when an actual Rider can take you there. A Rider can go further because the creatures trust him and he can show us more than they did for a group of young, rowdy school children."

"Well you can't just invite yourself." Tristan pointed out, shooting an apologetic look over at Taddeo.

Taddeo smiled amiably. "Actually, I really don't mind if she wants to come along."

Tiana grinned triumphantly.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "You don't know what you're getting into, Tadd. She'll talk your ear off the entire time. You'll get no peace."

"Not true." Tiana huffed. "I'll let him talk. He can tell me all the exciting stories about training that I haven't been able to squeeze out of you yet."

"Oh yeah, sure. And you're going to be able to refrain from pointing out all the sights to see in the city and tell him all about them." Tristan said sarcastically.

Tiana hesitated.

"Yup. I thought so. You just can't help it."

"Stop it." Tiana complained.

Sarilla shot her son a firm look. "Tristan, you should go along with them just to make sure Tiana doesn't rattle our guest's ear off." Tristan knew that expression from his mother all too well. It meant that she didn't want her daughter going on a walk through the city alone this late in the evening after dark with a young man they really didn't know all that well, even though he seemed to be a fine, trustworthy man so far.

"And Celesta should go too." The woman added.

Celesta ducked her head bashfully. "Oh, I'm alright with staying here. I need to work on my jewelry crafting."

"Jewelry?" Taddeo said. "Ah. So you are the wonderful mastermind behind Tristan's awesome carnivore tooth necklace. He said his sister made it for him. You sure do a fine job, young lady."

Celesta kept her eyes glued to the floor. "Thank you." She mumbled, her dark hair hanging on either side of her face, hiding most of her bashful expression from view.

"When you all return, don't forget to leave the door unlatched so that Sekani can easily come in and out as he pleases." Sarilla instructed as the young people grabbed hats and light cloaks or jackets, preparing to go out. "You know how he likes to roam around at night. Oh, and watch out for rogues. You never know when a Drifter will be lurking in the shadows, ready to cause trouble." She nodded at the boys, indicating that she trusted they would keep an eye out on the girls.

"Mother, we're just going to the rookery and back." Tristan said as put his hat on.

"Yes, I know. Just be careful anyway." She warned. "If you need me for anything I'll be down at the restaurant for awhile longer tonight to get some things in order for tomorrow."

"You'd think we were going through the Rainy Basin and back rather than the friendly streets of Sauropolis." Tristan growled once they were outside.

Taddeo laughed. "She's just being a mother."

"And she doesn't seem to realize that we've all grown up now." Tristan replied.

"What is it with these Drifters?" Taddeo said. "She acted as if they were a real problem."

"They can be." Tiana piped up. "They don't respect the Dinotopian Code. I've heard that they pop up here and there throughout all of Dinotopia, but it seems like there is more of them here at Sauropolis. Because of it, the security has gotten tighter. You'll see some street guards every now and then with their strong dinosaur companions. Their job is to keep an eye out for trouble and subdue any kinds of problems caused by the Drifters."

"Sounds like it's gotten a little worse since I left." Tristan mused.

Celesta nodded, her eyes solemn.

"It seems like no matter how hard we try to keep peace in Dinotopia, there is always someone trying to spoil it." Taddeo commented.

"I've heard rumors that some have targeted the saurians in an effort to cause them to turn against us humans. Supposedly it's a tactic to get the saurians to lose their trust in us."

"Why would they want to do that?" Taddeo said. "That's just crazy."

"They want to control the dinosaurs. Supposedly they complain that the dinosaurs really rule over us humans, making us operate only according to what _they_ want." Tiana said.

"Which is stupid." Tristan added. "The dinosaurs, if they really wanted to, could probably obliterate us all."

"I don't know." Tiana replied. "Remember our history? Humans caused some really bad trouble when they were united in thinking evil. They did manage to control a lot of the dinosaurs and they even tried to wipe out the carnivores and actually managed to kill a lot of them. If enough people got the wrong ideas again, it could be really bad."

Tristan chewed on his lower lip, remembering all the things Bix, his protoceratops friend and advisor back in Canyon City, had warned him about Dinotopia's fragile thread of peace and how important it was not to upset any balances. What if the Drifters caught wind of the troubles among the pterosaurs of the canyons and found a way to work that toward their advantage? Tristan balked at the thought. It would be horrible to think that skybaxes would start attacking humans as a means of revenge. It would also mean that when he was only trying to accomplish what he thought was a good thing, could really be turning into a bad thing—a very bad thing. For the first time he wondered if what he and Dark Wing and Twilight were trying to change was not a good idea after all, considering what the Drifters' intentions were.

The walk went quickly with Tiana and Taddeo both chattering almost nonstop. Celesta remained quiet, listening to their chatter, and Tristan too remained fairly quiet, only interrupting every now and then to tease Tiana or Taddeo. Sekani tagged along until he got distracted with chomping at moths swarming near a street lantern.

Once they reached the rookery, Taddeo started to go to where the skybaxes were roosting, but surprisingly, Celesta tapped him on the arm.

Taddeo looked down at the girl, taking note of her large, pale gray eyes which looked up at him bashfully. "Would I be able to go with you?" She asked, softly. "I—I would like to see the skybax."

Taddeo glanced toward Tristan.

Tristan shrugged. "It's fine. Celesta is so gentle that I doubt any skybax would feel threatened by her." He wasn't about to get too close to the skybaxes himself. After what happened at graduation day, he was unsure if any of the skybaxes would recognize him and feel threatened by him.

Taddeo glanced at Tiana next. The girl smiled. "I'll wait here with Tristan and Sekani for now, but when you get back, maybe I could take a turn?"

"Sure." Taddeo said.

When they approached the sleepy skybaxes, Taddeo told Celesta to wait by the entryway while he carefully maneuvered his way over to Aerial. Celesta watched, fascinated with how skillfully Taddeo moved through the area, careful to give each skybax their space until he reached his own flight partner. It was beautiful watching them commune with each other. Taddeo spoke gently to Aerial and stroked her beak lovingly. He checked to make sure that all was well with the creature and assured her that he would return in the morning.

After making his way back over to Celesta he smiled warmly. "Would you like to see her up close?" He said, softly so as not to disturb the other two skybaxes roosting there for the night.

Celesta's eyes widened. "Will she trust me to come that close?"

"She will if I'm right there with you. Come." He held out a hand toward the girl.

Celesta hesitated. Even though this young man was apparently her brother's friend and he appeared to be nice, she still felt uncertain. She always took a long time to warm up to strangers.

Taddeo merely waited, keeping his hand outstretched. He felt the odd sensation that he was somehow trying to tame a skittish dinosaur rather than win the trust of a very shy girl.

Finally, Celesta reached out and took his outstretched hand and Taddeo led the girl carefully over to Aerial.

"Oh wow." Celesta breathed. "I have never been so close to a skybax before." She could not take her eyes off of the huge winged creature who stood there watching his human flight companion with curiosity as he approached with a timid girl in tow.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" Taddeo said. He whistled gently at the skybax and the creature responded with soft, high pitched whistle.

"Here." Taddeo said, turning to Celesta. "She may let you touch her." He lifted the girl's hand with his own and reached out toward the creature slowly.

Aerial looked at her human partner for a moment, then ducked her head, signaling that she would welcome a scratch on her neck.

"See? As long as I am with you, she will trust you."

"But why?" Celesta whispered. "She doesn't know me."

"Because she sees that I trust you."

Celesta's fingertips brushed against the creature's neck.

Aerial flinched slightly at her touch, but stood her ground.

Celesta drew in her breath sharply and pulled back, breaking Taddeo's hold on her hand.

"It's ok." Taddeo said, realizing that he needed to assure the girl more than the creature now. "She's just getting familiar with you."

Celesta nodded slowly. "Breathe deep." She whispered and waved her fingers shyly toward the creature.

Taddeo smiled in amusement. Tristan's youngest sister was probably the sweetest girl he'd ever met. She could probably charm any saurian on the island if she could only believe in her abilities.

As they made their way back to where Tristan and Tiana were waiting just outside the rookery archway, Taddeo turned to Celesta. "So you think you might want to become a Rider one day?"

Celesta ducked her head. "Oh no. Tat would be too much for me. But I am amazed with the beauty of the creatures."

"But that's where it starts." Taddeo said. "I can see it in your eyes. You have an interest and it will only grow from there."

Celesta shook her head. "No. Training is far more than I would ever want to mess with."

Taddeo smiled knowingly, but did not press the matter further.

After taking Tiana in to meet Aerial, Taddeo tried to get Tristan too come too, but he refused. "Tadd, I don't want to cause any trouble. What if one of them recognizes me? Especially Aerial. She definitely would."

"Some time has passed since then. Maybe they are calmed down now."

"I don't want to risk it." Tristan insisted. "Besides, you just said earlier that the canyon skybaxes were still showing signs of being upset."

Taddeo decided not to press him further.

When they returned back to the Starr's household, Tiana suggested that they enjoy a quick snack down at the restaurant before heading off to bed. While the young people enjoyed hot tea and sweet bread, Tristan grabbed a few quick bites and headed on upstairs while Taddeo was in the middle of telling a story to Tiana and Celesta who listened raptly to his tale. The girls were so wrapped up in the story, they didn't even notice him sneaking away. Taddeo noticed, but decided not to say anything. After all, he had a good enough audience without him.

Once in his room, Tristan checked on the egg. He dipped his fingers in a cup of water and sprinkled droplets over the egg to keep it moist, then tucked the cotton blanket securely around it. All the while, he talked softly to it.

"It's getting harder and harder to keep you a secret. Listen, we have company, so be sure and don't try to hatch tonight. Now would not be a good time. I need you to keep quiet. Sleep well now." He tossed some unwashed clothes over the backpack, hiding it from view. Now it blended in with the rest of his room.

When Taddeo came up to the room, Tristan had a pallet made up on the floor and was already stretched out on it. Taddeo tried once more to get Tristan to talk about what happened to Twilight, but Tristan refused.

The next morning, after a breakfast of fruit, warm muffins, and coffee at the restaurant, Taddeo told the family goodbye. He had more flight missions to carry out.

"So what are you going to tell them back at Canyon City?" Tristan asked.

Taddeo sighed. "That you are doing well, but not ready to come back."

Tristan nodded in approval.

"But please try to come back to Canyon City one day." Taddeo urged. Tristan shrugged. "If I do, it may be awhile."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

He had never imagined that watching an egg could cause so much anxiety. As often as he could, Tristan retreated to his room watching the egg closely. He kept it wrapped in the warm blanket, and made sure to keep it slightly moist. Often he leaned his ear up against the shell, checking for any tiny squeaks or peeping sounds. He had no idea how old the egg was and realized that it could hatch at any time. While he kept an eye on the egg, he utilized the quiet time to try and sort out his mixed up life and to come up with a plan on what to do once the egg hatched.

No matter how much time he spent thinking about it though, he couldn't seem to come up with any solutions on what he was going to do. He knew that he couldn't keep it hidden forever. What would his parents think at discovering a skybax hatchling running around in his room and knocking things over as it tried to learn to fly?

When he wasn't watching the egg, he kept busy working in the restaurant and his help was greatly appreciated since his father, Cedric, had to make a trip with a shipping company which he often helped out with every now and then.

Tristan preferred working in the back, away from the main dining room full of guests. He'd never been a good waiter. He didn't have a friendly enough vibe and he struggled to keep his patience with picky customers. In the past he'd made so many mistakes with it that his parents were glad to keep him out of the dining room. After getting into arguments with people or rubbing cranky dinosaurs the wrong way, he decided that scrubbing pots and pans, cleaning, and organizing shipments of food was better for him to do, too.

One evening while Tristan was hard at work scrubbing skillets in the back, Tiana, who often worked as a waitress, came sailing into the kitchen with a huge grin on her face. "Tristan, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend." She said while holding out a small scroll toward him.

Tristan stopped scrubbing and reached for the scroll. His sleeves, even though they were rolled up to his elbows, were dripping. "I don't have a girlfriend and you know it." He grumbled.

Tiana danced backward, keeping the scroll out of his reach. "You're hands are soaking. You'll ruin the paper if you don't dry them off first." She lifted the small scroll to her nose. "Mmmm. It smells good too, like perfume. The girl that brought it to you is waiting out in the dining room." Tiana's eyes were twinkling with mischief.

Tristan sloppily dried his hands on the apron he wore, though the apron was so soggy that it didn't do much good. "Give me that, and stop acting so silly."

Tiana dodged him again. "Ooh, if you didn't think she was so special you wouldn't be so eager to try and get this away from me."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, you're being ridiculous. Give it here and I'll show you what it is. It definitely isn't what you think."

Tiana finally handed it over. "Sure, whatever. You just don't want to admit that you like her."

Tristan ignored the comment as he untied the pink ribbon and unrolled the paper. "See, it's just an invitation to a _party_." He put extra emphasis on the word in order to distract his sister. "And look." He waved it in front of her, "You and Celesta are both invited too."

"A party? And we're invited?" Tiana clapped her hands together. "Ooh, this is great. I love parties!"

Tristan's lips parted in a hint of a smile. He knew that the moment he mentioned a party, Tiana would be distracted from teasing him.

She was already reaching for the scroll. "Let me see it. Oh, look, you've made soggy fingerprints on the paper already." She scolded. "Now the ink is starting to blur. At least I can still see what it says. Dear Tristan Starr, you are invited to Poppy Harper's eighteenth birthday celebration." Tiana grinned. "I can't wait to figure out what I'm going to wear." She handed the invitation back to Tristan. "Don't lose this, or ruin it any further. It has the times and an address on it."

Tristan took it and set it on the window sill in front of the sink where he was working and resumed his scrubbing again. After a moment, he glanced behind him to see that Tiana was still standing there, watching him.

"Sheesh, Tiana. Go away. Don't you have something better to do than stand around and harass me?" He grumbled.

Tiana tossed her head, pony tail bouncing around her shoulders. "I'm supposed to irritate you. That's what siblings do."

"Hmf." Tristan muttered. "Celesta usually doesn't."

But Tiana didn't hear him since she was preoccupied with conjuring up her next irritating statement. "You know, that girl—I guess Poppy must be her name—she's out in the dining room waiting for you." She reminded him in a sly tone.

Tristan shrugged as he turned back to the sink of soapy water. "What for? She came to deliver the invitation, that's all."

Tiana grabbed her brother's arm and towed him through the kitchen. "You can be so dense sometimes. Get out there and see what else she's wanting."

Tristan pulled his arm from his sister's grasp. "Fine then, but don't be so pushy about it and don't get any more stupid ideas in your head."

Tiana stood at the doorway, grinning.

Tristan frowned. "Don't you have work to do? I'm sure there are plenty of guests waiting to be served."

"Yes." Tiana said. "You're right. I do." With that, she pushed open the double doors connecting the kitchen to the dining room and shoved Tristan through so he couldn't try to stay back in the kitchen any longer.

As Tristan staggered into the dining room, he fought the urge to verbally lash out at his sister who now had her back to him as she calmly approached one of the guest tables to resume her work.

Tristan opened his mouth then closed it again, realizing that his comments would disturb the pleasant atmosphere of the dining room. Once again, he marveled at how two practically different worlds could exist side by side within the same building.

The kitchen was noisy and cluttered and fast paced, but the dining room remained peaceful and orderly with the gentle murmur of voices rising above the tables. His mother's elegant touch seemed to be everywhere. Red silk curtains wreathed the windows, matching the tablecloths draped over the round wooden tables. The cloths were so long that they fell in folds nearly to the floor and only the claw shaped feet of the table legs peeked out from beneath. Green ivy and white lotus flowers were carefully arranged among the decorations of the colorful and artistic looking blown glass pieces displayed here and there throughout the room.

As Tristan's eyes scanned the room, his gaze settled on Poppy waiting for him at one of the tables by a window. She watched him approach with an eager expression on her face. She looked clean and fresh and the pink dress she wore seemed to bring out the blue in her eyes while the evening sunlight slanting in through the window caused her hair to glow like gold.

Tristan suddenly realized that his sodden apron was still tied to his waist. Using his damp sleeve, he quickly swiped at his sweaty face. It was always hot back in the kitchen with the ovens going and the water boiling for dishes.

"Hello, Tristan." Poppy said brightly. "So you really _do_ work at the renowned Sauropolis Star restaurant."

"Um, yeah, that's what I told you, didn't I?" Tristan replied, smiling in spite of his previous frustration with his sister.

"Yes, you did. I just, I don't know. I guess I just thought I'd come see for myself. For some reason I keep thinking I'll catch you one of these days wearing a Skybax Rider uniform."

Tristan felt his smile slip. "And instead you see me in work clothes and a wet apron, doing the drab work in a fine restaurant. I'm not sure what gives you the idea that you're going to find me wearing a prestigious Skybax Rider uniform." He replied, doing his best to hide the fact that his heartbeat quickened and it wasn't because of the pretty girl in front of him. It was her words.

Poppy's chin dropped to her chest. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to irritate you. It's just, well…why did you act like one that first day I met you? I mean, you saluted like it was second nature."

Tristan sighed and plunked himself down into the chair on the oppose side of the table. You're not going to give it up about that are you?"

Poppy continued to look down, avoiding his gaze. "Well…" Her voice trailed off and for once she didn't seem to know what to say.

"Look, that day you first met me I wasn't exactly myself. I'd been traveling and I was tired and out of sorts. I think I already mentioned to you the other day that I was just messing around when I did that Rider salute."

Poppy ran her fingertips over the tablecloth. "Well, you're a pretty good actor then, I guess. You looked so natural that you had me convinced."

"So…I can see that you didn't come by here just to drop off an invitation." Tristan said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"I—I just—well you seemed so nice and all around my family the other day, but that first day I met you it just seemed like you were a different person. You were so rough looking and I thought, well who knows. Maybe he really is a Drifter after all and he's tricked me this whole time."

"A Drifter who acts like a Skybax Rider?" Tristan raised an eyebrow, trying to act like the idea was ridiculous.

"That part _was_ confusing." Poppy admitted.

"Let me ask you something. Why would a Drifter be pretending to be a Skybax Rider transporting an orphaned egg?" Tristan said nervously as he tested the waters, wondering what the girl's answer would be.

Poppy shifted uncomfortably. "True. That doesn't make sense unless he would've stolen it for some reason. I hear they want to control the dinosaurs."

"Poppy, I'm not a Drifter." Tristan gazed at her seriously.

Poppy sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be thinking such things."

"I see you had second thoughts about me and yet you still came by and dropped off an invitation to your party. It sounds to me like you don't need to convince yourself of my innocence." Tristan's smile was back again, but something deep down was still bothering him. He shoved the apprehension aside.

Poppy smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. It's silly, I know. It's just, well, you know how ideas start coming to mind once you get by yourself and start thinking too much."

Tristan stood up, smiling. "Well, it looks like your imagined Drifter turned out to be a boringly ordinary fellow who has a family and works in their restaurant, sweeping floors and scrubbing pots and pans. No Skybax Rider. No egg thief."

Poppy stood up as well. "You'll still come to the party then, won't you? I mean, after I doubted you and all?"

Tristan swallowed hard. He'd been honest, right? He wasn't a Drifter, he wasn't a Skybax Rider, and he wasn't an egg thief. Then why was he still fighting this feeling of guilt, like he was still deceiving the girl somehow? He pasted on a smile. "Yes. I guess I'll still come and I'll make sure my sisters come too."

Poppy left the restaurant with a sunny expression on her face and Tristan returned to his work in the back, feeling as if a gloomy cloud had descended upon him.

He was a mess in the kitchen the rest of the evening. He collided with one of the other kitchen workers, he scrubbed too hard on some of the china which resulted in scratching the paint, and after dropping a skillet on the floor and accidentally breaking a tea mug, the cook in charge of the kitchen that evening sent him away, telling him not to return back to work until he could learn to stop breaking things.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

For the next few days Tristan spent more and more time in his room keeping a close eye on the skybax egg. After he'd gnawed his fingernails down to the quick, and still hadn't thought up a solution to his problems, he resorted to the sketch book that Taddeo had given him back at Canyon City. His drawings were not that good and looked more like a child had done them, but they depicted much of his time spent with Twilight and Dark Wing. Reviewing the pictures brought tears to his eyes, so he quickly turned to the back where there were still blank pages waiting to be filled.

His mother wondered why he spent so much time alone in his room and he still hadn't figured out a way to tell her. Celesta, in her quiet way, kept hinting to him that he needed to tell the rest of the family what was going on. Tristan was still afraid that his mother would have it sent off to a Hatchery though. Then he would have to explain about the egg to many people and he felt certain that someone wouldn't understand his point of view and he would be viewed with suspicion and categorized as a Drifter. After all, he'd been closely involved with stirring up the trouble with the canyon skybaxes and he couldn't argue with that.

One day when his mother came in, wanting to know why he spent so much time alone, Tristan pulled the sketchbook off of the shelf in his room and handed it to her.

Sarilla gave her son a quizzical look.

Tristan shrugged and flopped down on the bed. He tried hard to not look at the backpack sitting in the corner of the room. He was afraid that his mother would somehow see right through him _and _the blanket tossed over the backpack.

Sarilla opened the book and her eyes widened as she stared at the first page. "Tristan, I had no idea!" She said, excitement in her voice as she thumbed through the pages. "When did you start doing this?" She held the book open to one page and held it out to him.

Tristan looked at the page. There was Twilight perched on a rock ledge. He looked away quickly. There were other drawings in the book, mainly of skybaxes, but there were a few sketches of other dinosaurs. Some of the drawings were better than others, particularly the ones further back in the book since he improved a little after he first started.

"One of the other cadets back at Canyon City got me started on it—Tadd, actually. It was frustrating at first, but I guess I liked it enough to keep trying." He swallowed nervously, hoping she wouldn't ask more questions about either Twilight or Dark Wing.

"I had no idea you liked to draw. Why didn't you ever tell me this before?" Sarilla said.

"Like I said, I just recently kind of got started on it. I didn't think they were that good and didn't feel the need to show anyone."

Sarilla shook her head. "I never imagined you would have the patience for such a thing."

Tristan choked back a sarcastic laugh. He _didn't_ really have the patience. He'd only done them in an effort to find a way of communication between the skybaxes he was getting to know back at Canyon City, but he didn't really feel like letting his mother know that. Not yet anyway.

Sarilla put the book back on the shelf. "If you're that interested in art, I can arrange for you to take classes. I'm pretty sure there's an artist who teaches on afternoons every few days over at the conservatory just past Carousel Plaza.

Tristan shook his head. He should've known his mother would try to push him into some kind of training. "No. I'm not ready for that. I just…need to give it more time."

"Well be sure and let me know when you are." She said with a smile as she left the room.

Tristan sighed when she was gone. It was for that very reason that he hadn't shown her the sketches sooner. She would want him to go further with the training and he really wasn't interested enough for that. At least she was satisfied with that explanation for now.

"So, did you find a good present for her?" Tiana asked one evening while she and Celesta and Tristan were cleaning up the kitchen in the back of the restaurant.

Tristan groaned. He'd forgotten about that part. Birthdays meant presents.

Tiana laughed. "Seriously, Tristan, you do beat all sometimes. Someone invited you to a birthday party and you didn't even think about a present."

"Well you and Celesta are invited too." Tristan said pointedly. "I'm not the only one that's got to come up with something."

Tiana merely shrugged, but an ornery smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, but we don't know her. What do you think she'd like?"

Tristan paused from scrubbing one of the counters with a rag. "I really don't know."

"Come on. You've been around her more than us." Tiana said as she dumped a bunch of dirty silverware and chopsticks into the sink of hot water.

"You could give her some flowers. Girls always like flowers." Celesta suggested. She contentedly scrubbed away at the dirty dishes, clearly happy to be working in the back rather than serving customers in the dining room.

Tristan shook his head. "No. Not flowers. I don't want her getting the wrong idea."

Tiana and Celesta looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Girls." He muttered. He dropped the dishcloth into the soapy dishwater, making sure to splash his sisters in the process. Celesta calmly swiped the water away from her face with her sleeve, but Tiana erupted.

"Hey, watch it." She said sharply. Although it was later evening and most of the supper guests had left by now, she still wanted to keep a fresh appearance in case any late comers straggled in.

She scooped up a handful of soap suds and blew them into her brother's face. Tristan saw it coming though and ducked. As a result, the bubbles landed in his hair instead.

Celesta giggled. "You look like your hair is turning white like an old man's."

"Yeah." Tiana added, and if you keep worrying like you always do, you'll end up with real white hair long before your time."

"Worrying?" Tristan said. "What makes you think I'm worrying right now?"

Tiana grinned. "I just know you, that's all. You're trying to act all cool, but you're worried about what to get Poppy Harper for her birthday."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "I need to figure out what to give her, but I'm certainly not worrying about it. I wouldn't have forgotten about it up until now if I was worried about it."

Tiana gave him a look which showed that she didn't believe him. Tristan decided to just pretend that he didn't notice it even though he felt annoyed. His sister could tease all she wanted, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him flustered about the whole situation of being invited to a birthday party by a girl.

Then an idea hit him. "Hey, couldn't we all just share the same gift? You know, you girls go get something and it can be from all three of us?" A comment like that would surely deter his sisters from thinking that he liked Poppy in any special way. He really _didn't _like her in that way and it irked him that his sisters kept pestering him about it.

Both of his sisters shook their heads. "We already know what we're giving her." Tiana announced. "I'm giving her a bottle of perfume."

"And I'm giving her a shell necklace that I made." Celesta added.

Tristan frowned. "Weren't you just asking me a minute ago what to get her? Now you tell me you've already got gifts."

Tiana clicked her tongue lightly. "Now let's get things straight. I never said we didn't have gifts, I just asked what you thought she might like."

Tristan rolled his eyes again. Of course, Tiana had simply messed with him to get a reaction and it had worked. "Fine then." He said, huffily. "Since you two are so good at this, could you just go out and get something for me to give her?"

Tiana and Celesta looked at each other and grinned.

Tristan immediately regretted the question. "No, never mind. You two would get me into something I didn't bargain for." He chose to ignore their disappointed expressions. Clearly, his sisters wanted to go find something for him, just to have some fun and make things difficult for him. For all he knew they would find some shiny piece of jewelry or a bouquet along with a sappy little note that would have just the opposite effect he wanted on Poppy. The less this girl knew about him the better. She knew too much already concerning the skybax egg and it would be a total disaster if she found out what really happened to it.

So the next day Tristan went out and spent a whole afternoon looking in shops, trying to find something to get for Poppy's birthday. "It shouldn't be so hard." He told himself. He closed his eyes, trying to remember what she looked like the first day he'd met her. Was there anything that stood out that would give him some kind of clue?

After a moment of concentration, he thought of the colorful crocheted bag that the girl carried with her. It gave him an idea and it would have to do. He found a shop with a variety of colorful threads and yarns so he chose three skeins of yarn, one blue, one gold, and the other green. In exchange, he spent and hour and a half cleaning up the fabric shop, dusting, sweeping, and straightening up the shelves of fabrics and sewing products.

Finally, the night of the party arrived. After tending to the egg, Tristan dressed in his nicest shirt, a dark blue one, and pulled on a black button up vest and matching pants and adorned his neck with a golden necktie. He combed his hair carefully and regretfully left off the favorite bandanna and the carnivore tooth necklace. He pulled a light weight cloak over his shoulders since the evening air would be a little chilly and last of all he donned the tricorn hat. Here in Sauropolis it was proper etiquette to dress one's best for going on social outings.

Tristan, Tiana, and Celesta headed out the door of the apartment, with Sekani following close behind. Tiana and Celesta had dressed nicely for the occasion as well and each one of them carried their gift. Even Sekani had brought something. In one claw he held a small bunch of bright red poppies he'd gotten from a nearby flower vender. Tristan glanced at the dinosaur, slightly jealous of his gift. It was a clever idea, giving the girl flowers in honor of her name, but Tristan reminded himself that giving her flowers might give her the wrong idea.

Sekani caught him eyeing his gift. The creature grinned, his sharp teeth twinkling in the city lamp lights.

Tristan rolled his eyes and looked away. What did it matter anyway what gift he gave the girl? He was trying not to encourage things. Of course, why was he coming to the party then in the first place? He should've told her no. That would've ended it all. But then again, he really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Tristan grew edgy as he wrestled with himself, wondering why he was even thinking about all this anyway.

As they approached the Harper home, a pretty house built on the edge of the bay overlooking the water, Tristan grew nervous. The lights spilled out from the windows of the house, casting colorful beams on the dark water. Judging by the size of the house, Tristan realized that the Harper family had a good upper position on the social ladder. Apparently Brutus's occupation as an engineer paid off nicely.

He could hear music and laughter and the din of many voices drifting from the house and Tristan suddenly remembered that he hated parties and big crowds and wondered again why he ever consented to coming in the first place.

He felt a small pat on his arm and turned to see Celesta giving him a sympathetic smile. She understood his discomfort since she too wasn't much for crowds and parties. At the last minute she'd almost decided to stay home, but Tristan managed to convince her to come, promising that she would like Poppy a lot. Deep down though, he had a hunch that Tiana would hit it off a little better with Poppy since they were both seemingly boisterous and fun loving. His biggest reason for wanting Celesta to come was simply because it would be a comfort knowing she was there since she shared his dread for parties. Also, his mother had told him that she really wanted Celesta to get out more. "Ever since you left for Rider training, Celesta has shown little interest in socializing. Even though Tiana is outgoing and would happily bring her along to her activities, you were the one that Celesta felt comfortable with going places. Now that you're back, I was kind of hoping that you could help her out with that again." Sarilla had explained.

An oviraptor graciously opened the door for the three Starr siblings and ushered them in. Tristan stared around him in a daze. The lights in the big central room shone down brightly, illuminating the crowd of people and smaller dinosaurs milling about the room. He was vaguely aware of Celesta gripping his sleeve.

"Oh, this is going to be fun." Tiana said as she tugged at Sekani's claw. "Look, I think there's someone we know." She left her cloak and hat in the arms of the oviraptor and quickly scampered off with Sekani following close behind.

"How does she do that?" Celesta said as she watched her sister go.

Tristan shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe Mother and Father adopted her." He joked, then nodded gratefully to the oviraptor who took their hats and cloaks and carried them off into a small side room.

Celesta's worried expression melted into one of her slow smiles. She had a tendency to smile only half way most of the time so few people benefited at seeing it in full blossom. It was just reaching its peak when Poppy and her brother, Kale, standing next to her caught sight of them.

Poppy's eyes lit up at recognizing Tristan and she immediately bounded over to him. "Hi! I see you made it here. Oh, and this must be one of your sisters! I'm so excited to meet you." She held out a hand in greeting to the girl. "Breath deep. I'm Poppy Harper. What's your name?"

Celesta's smile remained, though smaller now, as she held out her hand shyly. "Seek peace." She returned in her soft voice. "My name is Celesta."

"Celesta. What a beautiful name." Poppy cooed appreciatively. "Tristan mentioned both you and your other sister. He said you were both very beautiful girls."

Kale cleared his throat loudly and Poppy suddenly remembered him. "Oh, and this is one of my brothers. Kale, meet Celesta, and you already know Tristan."

Kale touched the girl's hand in greeting. "I'm pleased to meet you, Celesta." He said smiling cordially. Then, glancing at Tristan he said, "Where's the other sister you spoke of?"

Tristan shrugged. "Oh, somewhere around here. Just as soon as we walked through the door she took off when she recognized someone she knew."

Kale looked around, tugging anxiously at his shirt collar. "And the deinonychus from the Rainy Basin?"

Tristan grinned. "He's with Tiana at the moment. He takes his job seriously when he guards my sisters."

"Oh. I see." Kale swallowed hard and ran a hand through his straw colored hair. "I uh, I guess I'll just meet her later then."

Celesta shyly held her carefully wrapped gift out to Poppy. "Here's a present for you."

Poppy's eyes brightened. "Oh, you didn't need to give me a present. I know this is a birthday celebration and all, but I don't expect presents from people. Having them come and spend time at the party is much more wonderful than any gift I could ever hope for."

Kale rolled his eyes. "Awe, come on. Don't let her fool you. She loves people, but she can't help but enjoy presents too."

Poppy gave her brother a small shove. "Oh, hush, you. Why don't you go find something else to do with yourself?"

"Well, I'd like to get to know your guests too." Kale replied, crossing his arms.

"Well can't you do it without making things awkward?" Poppy complained.

Celesta smiled as she watched the two siblings. She couldn't help but like this bubbly girl that reminded her so much of her own sister, Tiana. She pressed the gift into Poppy's hands. "It's alright. All people like presents. We just can't help it."

Poppy smiled. "Oh, Celesta, you are too kind."

Tristan was glad to see that his shy sister seemed to be hitting it off a lot better than he thought she would with Poppy. He glanced sideways at Kale, noticing how the other boy was eyeing his sister. It was all he could do to keep from laughing. Celesta had admitted just the other day that boys terrified her. Kale may have been watching Celesta closely, hoping to catch her eye, but she was ignoring him, giving all her attention to Poppy.

"Why don't you open it?" Celesta said.

"Alright." Poppy said, her eyes shining with anticipation. She carefully untied the ribbon and pulled away the pretty piece of material that covered the little paper box. She lifted the lid to the box and pulled out the shell necklace. "Oh, it's wonderful! I've always loved seashells. This is so pretty. Where did you find something like this? I would like to visit a shop that has stuff like this."

"I made it." Celesta said with a modest smile and stared down at her feet.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Just for me?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't even know me. You are too kind. Oh, Celesta, can I give you a hug?"

Celesta shrugged. "I guess."

Poppy hugged the girl. "Thank you so much. You are very sweet. I think we're going to get along wonderfully."

Celesta smiled.

"Yeah, I think we will." Kale added determined not to be completely left out of the conversation.

Celesta glanced over at the boy with a confused expression on her face.

Tristan unceremoniously plopped his gift into Poppy's hands. "And here's mine." He said.

"You too?" Poppy said. "You know you didn't have to."

"Yes. I know. But that's what we Starr's do for birthdays. We give gifts to the birthday person."

"Really? The Harpers like throw a party with lots of dancing. That's our tradition. Of course, we don't have one this big every year. Turning eighteen is a special year." Poppy took the gift and opened it.

Tristan thought something was wrong at first because the girl looked down at the colorful skeins of yarn silently. "Well, uh, do you like it?" he asked, wondering if he'd made a really stupid mistake.

Poppy looked up at him, her eyes glowing. "How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"How did you know that I love making things out of yarn? I don't even know you that well yet and you figured that out somehow."

Tristan shrugged. "Well, I noticed that colorful bag you were holding the first day we met."

"Really? And you seemed so distracted then. I would've never thought you'd notice something like that. Thank you, Tristan. I can't wait to get started making something out of this." Poppy carefully returned the yarn to the bag that Tristan had brought it in and added Celesta's gift to it. She stepped forward and just as she'd done with Celesta, she hugged him too. "That was the perfect gift." She said, softly, in his ear.

Tristan stood there stubbornly with his arms held stiffly to his sides. If he dared return that hug he just knew Tiana would see it from wherever she'd disappeared to and he'd never hear the end of her teasing. It was all he could do to stand politely still instead of swatting the girl's hands away like he usually did when his sisters ever tried to hug him.

Poppy, apparently having been raised to hug everybody she considered a friend, didn't seem to notice how awkward Tristan felt. She pulled away quickly and said merrily, "Come on, let's go find your other sister. I'd like to meet her." She tugged at one of Tristan's hands, as well as Celesta's and the two people in the Starr family who hated parties, found themselves being pulled right into the center of one.

Kale was left standing alone staring after Celesta with a disappointed expression on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Parties were supposed to be pleasant and joyous events, but for Tristan it was difficult and spurred on a confused mess of emotions. He found himself questioning his recent choices and regretting the fact that he had allowed his acquaintance with Poppy to go this far.

Poppy led Tristan and Celesta through the crowded party room, introducing them to people and dinosaurs as they went. They moved in such a whirl that both Tristan and Celesta felt a little dizzy and there was no way they could remember everyone's names. Before long they found Tiana and as Tristan expected, she and Poppy hit it off well.

Tristan stood with his arms crossed looking bored while Poppy opened Tiana's gift and the girls ogled over the perfume, chatting girl talk and giggling.

Sekani, whom Tiana seemed to have momentarily forgotten, finally snorted and stepped forward in an effort to get their attention. He thrust the now tattered bouquet of flowers in front of Poppy's nose. A few of the flowers were completely missing from the stems due to an earlier encounter with a Dimetrodon that'd seen the bright red flowers as a tasty snack. Sekani's head had been turned at the moment and by the time he'd heard the telltale munching noises, it was too late. Already three of the blossoms were gone and the Dimetrodon merely stood there grinning with bits of flower petals stuck to its teeth.

"For me?" Poppy said in delight. She didn't seem at all perturbed by the bouquet's less than perfect appearance. She immediately connected with Sekani and the dinosaur couldn't help but like her back. He tried his best to speak to her, using the few words he knew how to say in the human tongue. Poppy was delighted and rewarded him with one of her winning hugs. Sekani beamed. Even though he wasn't a particularly friendly dinosaur, he liked Poppy instantly.

However, when he spied Kale trying to sidle his way toward Celesta, he sent a nasty growl in the boy's direction.

Kale quickly scooted away, suddenly giving all his attention to watching the band of musicians.

Sekani grunted in satisfaction.

Kale, after a throwing a glance over his shoulder every now and then only to find the ever watchful carnivore's eye trained on him, finally decided to go find some other way to occupy himself.

As for Tristan, he managed to slip away from the main hubbub of the party, taking refuge in a corner near a large indoor plant. No one seemed to notice him there, much to his relief. He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, silently observing the party. People and dinosaurs both were dancing to the lively music played by the musicians. Across the large room there were tables laden with food and drinks. When the Harpers decided to have a party, they certainly went all out.

It wasn't long before Tristan's thoughts drifted back to the skybax egg back at home. He knew that it was safe and warm, but a feeling of guilt tugged at his conscience. He really had no idea when it would hatch and it would be horrible if it happened during a time when he was away. During the times when he'd been working in the restaurant or gone for walks through the city's beautiful streets, Celesta had filled in for him, keeping a close eye on the egg. Tonight was the first time he'd left it entirely alone since Celesta had come with him. She'd been concerned about it too, but they'd both agreed that just for a few hours that evening it would be fine. They'd calculated that even if it for some reason began to hatch while they were gone, they would be back before it would be finished. Celesta had tried to get him to tell the rest of the family, but he'd still made up excuses for putting it off for the time being. Tristan chewed on his lower lip, growing more and more anxious the longer he thought about it. A worried frown creased his brow. He wondered how soon he could leave the party without coming across as rude to the hosts.

Just as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Poppy found him again. "Hey, there you are. I was wondering where you'd disappeared to. Oh, goodness, you look awful worried. Is something wrong?"

Tristan shook his head. "No. I guess I'm a little tired, that's all."

"Tired this early? If I didn't know you better I'd think you were a sleepy country bumpkin unaccustomed to the late night city life." Poppy teased. "Look, I've got someone else here I'd like you to meet." Poppy grabbed his hand and tugged him over to a girl who momentarily had her head turned as if she were searching the crowd for someone.

"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. I'm so lucky that she got to come to the party because she's been so busy here lately and I rarely get to see her anymore." Poppy bubbled.

Tristan sucked in his breath sharply when the girl turned her head and faced him. No way. It couldn't be.

But it was.

"Tristan, meet Fira." Poppy said cheerfully, having no idea that the two young people were already well acquainted. They had trained together back at Canyon City.

Fira looked just as startled as Tristan.

Poppy switched her gaze back and forth between the two, confused at how shocked both of them seemed to be.

Many words swirled through Tristan's mind, but he couldn't seem to catch them and form even a simple sentence.

It was Fira who spoke first. "Wow. So you're a friend of Poppy's?" Her tone held a slight chill.

Tristan shrugged, still tongue tied.

Fira was not wearing her Rider uniform. She wore a pretty dark green dress which brought out her amber eyes. Her wavy brown hair which she usually kept knotted up, now hung down loose, falling just past her shoulders.

Tristan suddenly realized that he was still staring at Fira. Quickly, he averted his gaze, hoping he hadn't looked ridiculous. "So…uh…" He searched for something to say conversationally that wouldn't sound awkward or just downright stupid. "Do you…uh…" So far he wasn't getting anywhere. "I mean…well…" He started chewing on his lower lip again. What could he say when he didn't know how much Fira knew? And what if she said something to Poppy, indicating that they went through training together? That would be awful. Then he would have to explain a whole lot of things to the girl and she probably wouldn't be very happy with the outcome.

"We could dance." Fira said simply.

"Dance?" Tristan said. "You mean, you want to dance? Uh…right now?"

Fira nodded. "Yes. With you."

Tristan glanced at Poppy. The girl stood there grinning and only shrugged in response. He turned back to Fira. "Well…let's dance then."

Fortunately for Tristan, dancing came naturally to him. His mother, who'd always been a more sophisticated type, had made sure that all her children had grown up taking dancing lessons, starting at a very young age. Tiana, however, was the only one who continued to pursue it.

For some reason though, despite all the dance training he'd received, Tristan found himself fumbling at first and missing a few steps. For a moment they danced silently. It was not a fast song so there was plenty of time to think. The problem was that Tristan couldn't seem to be able to think.

"Well, you look nice enough tonight." Fira finally said. Although she was dancing with him, her demeanor remained cold.

Tristan wondered what that was supposed to mean. Nice enough? He shrugged and concentrated on the dance steps. Then it dawned on him that the proper thing to do was probably to compliment her on her appearance. He'd learned from his sisters that all girls like to be complimented on their looks so he decided to start there. "Your dress looks good." He finally said, but the short sentence sounded awkward once it was out.

"I mean…" he paused, searching for a way to fix the blunt statement. "I mean, your dress and your hair go together good."

He winced. That didn't sound right either, so he tried again. "Your dancing has improved since our trek through the Forbidden Mountains."

"Thank you." Fira said, tersely. "I've practiced just a little."

Tristan decided not to ask her with whom.

"Tristan…I had no idea I would…see you here. And…and I'm still upset with you." Fira suddenly burst out.

"Uh…and yet you asked to dance with me." Tristan replied.

"So that we can talk."

"Fira, I'm sorry about what happened that night—you know—back at Canyon City."

"I know. Mathias started the fight. You were just defending yourself. But…it was hard to see you go…in such a way."

Tristan wasn't sure what to say in reply to that.

"And…" Fira looked away a moment, seeming to gather her emotions. Her amber eyes were sparking dangerously. "You just ran off after I let you know that I cared about you a lot. You just—you just—_left_. I felt so…so…rejected." She missed a step in the dance and stumbled.

Tristan instinctively caught her, keeping her from falling.

Fira frowned and pressed her lips together.

"I was really messed up that night." Tristan admitted.

"Yes. You were." Fira agreed. "And it was stupid of me to open up like that at that particular moment. I was just…afraid—I guess—afraid that if I didn't say something then, I would…lose you." The girl huffed in frustration. "And then I lost you anyway."

Tristan decided it would be better to just let the girl talk, seeing as he still didn't know what to say.

Fira's expression softened for a moment. "I was so angry with you and then I received your letter. I can't imagine what you're going through, but you ran away instead of asking any of your friends for help. I know you and Mathias can't seem to get along and somehow always end up nearly half killing each other, but Tadd, Elora, and I would've been there for you."

"I just needed to get home." Tristan said. "It's been confusing to me. Everything. Please try to understand."

"I am trying." Fira said, softening her tone just a little. "I really am trying. I just thought I knew you well and now I'm not so sure."

Tristan wasn't sure he even knew himself that well anymore. Life had become a strange blur since he'd left Canyon City.

"I am surprised to see you here and to that you are acquainted with my friend, Poppy. Have you always known her?" Fira pressed.

"No. I just met her when I returned." Tristan replied, glad for the change of subject. "She sort of ran into me in the streets one day and she seems to keep popping up here and there ever since. Then she invited me and my sisters to her birthday celebration. I wasn't planning on coming but, well, I didn't want to disappoint her."

"Hmm." Fira looked over her shoulder to see the other girl momentarily occupied with chatting with someone else. She turned back to Tristan. "So, what do you keep yourself busy at now that you're in Sauropolis?"

"Well, I…I work at the Sauropolis Star restaurant."

Fira raised an eyebrow, but didn't look surprised. "I've heard that it's a fine place. Elegant dining and renowned cuisine. You must be learning a lot about the art of cooking then."

Tristan felt himself relaxing and as a result a small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Cooking? Naw. I'm just as bad as I was back in the Forbidden Mountains. I mostly just work in the back of the restaurant, scouring pots and pans and doing janitor duties—probably the lowest job in the whole place, to be honest."

The familiar folk tune was drawing to a close and Tristan felt relieved. For some reason it felt like the longest and hardest dance he'd ever done before—even harder than the dance performance he took part in when his mother forced him to take lessons back when he was little.

Fira finished out the last steps before answering. "Well, I've stayed busy with flight assignments now that I'm an Apprentice Rider. One place I visited recently was my grandparent's Hatchery."

"Oh." Was all Tristan said as he retreated from the dance floor. He was starting to feel nervous again seeing as how the girl somehow managed to bring the conversation back onto dangerous grounds again.

Poppy was waiting for them. She greeted them with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, holding her hands clasped together beneath her chin. "You two did so awesome and…well…looked wonderful together! I wish I could dance that good."

"You could if you tried more often." Fira replied in a teasing manner as she reached her friend.

"True." Poppy returned. "I almost think I like watching better though." She shifted her attention to Tristan who was stepping back, clearly intending to melt into the crowd again.

"You're not going already, are you?" Poppy called to him.

Tristan paused and smiled guiltily. "Who, me? Naw. I'm just off to get something to drink."

Poppy looked back at Fira and gave her a bright smile. "Isn't he nice? And the day I met him, he was bringing an orphaned egg to the Sauropolis Saurian Nursery."

Tristan froze in his tracks. He didn't know if it would be better or worse to stay and hear what the outcome of the girls' conversation would be. He stole a glance behind him to see Fira sending him a bewildered look. The room suddenly felt way too crowded and he found himself scanning the room, searching for an exit.

Poppy momentarily seemed oblivious to the tension in the air. She spotted Tiana and Celesta across the room and pointed them out to Fira. "Come on. I see Tristan's sisters over there. You've got to meet them. Celesta is the sweetest thing you'll ever meet and Tiana is fun and hilarious. Oh, and their deinonychus friend is amazing. He's learning how to speak our language."

Fira allowed the girl to pull her along, but she stole a glance over her shoulder, watching Tristan as he grabbed a glass of fruit juice from the refreshments table and headed for the door which led to the back deck.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It felt better outside. The air blowing in from the bay felt cool and smelled of salt and seaweed. Tristan took a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts, but as he looked about him he discovered that the back deck also seemed to be a popular gathering place for a gaggle of compsognathus. They all ceased their chatter for a moment and eyed him as if he were intruding on some private conversation.

He waved a hand at them briefly, ducking his head respectfully, and passed them, walking over to an unoccupied corner of the deck. It seemed like no matter where he went he was out of place. The small lizard-like creatures observed him for a moment, then went on chattering to one another in their squeaky tones.

A half moon peeked through wispy clouds, casting down a soft, silvery sheen onto the wooden deck railing. Tristan rested his elbows on the railing and leaned forward, clutching the cup of fruit juice tightly between his hands. He bowed his head for a moment, closing his eyes, trying to get his spinning mind to calm down.

He realized that he'd messed up, but didn't know how to fix things either. He had to figure out what to do now that Fira had shown up and was apparently a friend of Poppy's. Fira could easily tell Poppy that she was well acquainted with him and that they had trained together at Canyon City. Poppy would be so confused and wonder why he had never owned up to being a Skybax Rider. Even worse, she would be wondering about that mysterious egg she'd seen in his possession. In her mind it was at the Saurian Nursery, or already shipped off to its 'rightful' place in a Hatchery now.

It seemed that what was causing the most trouble was the fact that all his actions were driven by fear—fear of people not understanding him, fear that they would label him a Drifter, fear that they would take the egg away from him, fear that Dark Wing would completely reject him in the end, and fear that he would never become a Rider.

If only he would've just told Poppy from the beginning about everything, but then again, the part about the egg would've been risky. It seemed like every angle he looked at it, there just wasn't a clear answer on how to handle things. He wanted to leave the party now, but then wouldn't that make things even worse? Leaving without an explanation? Running away? Again? At this rate would he spend the rest of his life running?

He groaned slightly and rubbed his forehead in agitation. He needed to get out of Sauropolis and do some serious thinking in solitude. Maybe then he could find the answers he needed. But then again if he thought about things too much, his thoughts would bring him back to Twilight and so far every time his thoughts went back to her, emotional pains plagued him. And when this happened, his reaction had always been to shut out the memories as much as possible in an effort to keep from hurting.

Also, if he left the city now, his family would be upset. In fact, no matter what move he made at the moment, someone would be upset. It seemed there was no good solution no matter which angle he looked at things. One thing was certain though. He needed to get Poppy off by herself and talk to her alone. Maybe if no one else was around she would focus on what he had to say and maybe understand his story and maybe forgive him for leading her on in more ways than one.

The back door swung open and Brutus Harper stepped outside. "Hello there, Tristan." The man boomed.

Tristan lifted his head quickly. Things already seemed bad enough. Now, seeing Poppy's father striding toward him caused his stomach to twist with even more apprehension.

"Evening, sir." He managed to say.

The man dealt a friendly slap to the young man's shoulder. Tristan grimaced and looked down to see his juice sloshing over the rim of his glass and onto the cuff of his shirt sleeve.

Brutus didn't seem to notice though. "I'm glad you made it here tonight." The man went on. "My Poppy seems to think highly of you."

"Well, that's nice, seeing as I hardly know her, sir." Tristan replied.

"Ah, but you will get to know her better in time. She's a bubbly girl full of life and energy, but she's also sensible and has a good eye for choosing remarkable friends."

Tristan swallowed hard, thinking that Poppy's 'good eye' might've made a mistake for once when choosing him. "If you're implying that I'm remarkable or of any worth, I can assure you that I'm not everything Poppy might talk me up to be."

"Such a modest answer." Brutus said in an appreciative tone. "I never did take to folks who talked themselves up." He smiled. "You're a good lad." Then he dropped his voice to a confiding tone, which was still a little too loud in Tristan's opinion. "My Poppy just turned eighteen and according to the Harper family tradition, she is now old enough for courtship." His smile was gone now, replaced with a serious expression.

Tristan shifted uncomfortably, uneasy about the direction this conversation was going. For the moment though, he couldn't think of anything to say in return to steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Anyway," Brutus went on, "I thought it would be good for you to know that we take courtship seriously. If you haven't figured it out already, my Poppy seems to have her eye on you."

Tristan swallowed nervously and tugged at his neck tie which suddenly seemed too tight. "Are you, uh…certain of that?" He asked.

"Of course I'm certain." Brutus scoffed. "I'm her father." He put a hand on Tristan's shoulder and pushed him toward the door which had a glass window in it. "You see my girl in there?" Brutus pointed.

Tristan nodded.

"According to her, you've done the honorable job of bringing an orphaned egg to the Sauropolis Saurian Nursery where it can be looked after properly and then transferred to the nearest Hatchery. That, my boy, is a noble deed."

Tristan was just swallowing a sip of the juice in his glass, but with this piece of information thrown at him, he somehow swallowed wrong and choked.

So that was it. That's why Brutus seemed ok with him getting to know his daughter. He thought Tristan had done something wonderful, but the man had no idea how wrong this information was.

Brutus pounded the young man on the back and the rest of Tristan's juice spilled out of the glass. "Choked a bit, eh?" Brutus said with a laugh.

Tristan merely nodded. He had to get away before Brutus would ask him more details about the orphaned egg. According to this man, that orphaned egg was the very reason that he allowing him near his daughter and it was because of that same egg that Tristan felt the need to avoid the whole situation. At this point he didn't know the Harper family well enough yet and there was no telling what they'd do if he told them the truth. He knew one thing for sure though, Brutus wouldn't be thinking too highly of him anymore. A Skybax Rider failure and drop out and harboring an orphaned egg to boot. Things were getting sour really fast.

"Um, I—uh, sir, I—" Tristan stammered.

Brutus ceased the pounding and stepped back to let the young man speak.

"I uh, you know, I'm definitely not a hero or anything." Tristan finally managed.

"There you are being all modest again." Brutus said with a grin. "Why don't you go back inside and enjoy yourself? The music's started again and folks are dancing. I saw how well you danced with Poppy's friend. I can see you've been trained well. Maybe you could teach my daughter a thing or two about dancing. She likes it and all, but she could stand to learn a few more things about it."

Tristan looked up at the man to see if he was really serious.

Brutus had a huge smile on his face and winked.

Tristan gulped. No. This was _not_ going to work. No way. However, he didn't know what else to say other than mumbling an obedient, "Yes sir," before stepping back inside.

He shut the door quickly behind him, hoping Brutus would not immediately follow. He didn't, but Tristan could feel the man's eyes watching him through the window. Clamping his teeth together, Tristan strode across the room, grudgingly searching for Poppy. The musicians were playing a catchy tune, but it only sounded annoying in Tristan's ears.

He made his way over to the drinks table and deposited his empty cup into the bin reserved for dirty dishes.

"Hey there, that grim look seems a little out of place here."

Tristan immediately recognized Tiana's voice from behind him.

He turned around to see both Tiana and Poppy approaching. Celesta was no where to be seen and he figured she'd found some place to hide for a while. Lucky for her. Fira too seemed to have disappeared for the moment.

"Is something wrong?" Tiana said, giving her brother a searching look. Tristan faked a smile. "Wrong?" He said. "No, not at all. I just came in from outside, you know how I like to get a little fresh air every now and then."

Poppy looked at him closely. "Well you certainly don't look refreshed. If anything you looked drained. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes." Tristan replied. He stole a glance toward the window of the door to the deck and could just make out the huge form of Brutus still standing there, still watching him, probably to see if he would do what he'd asked. Tristan shifted his gaze back to Poppy. "In fact," he said, doing his best to fake a jolly tone, "I'm ready to dance again. "How about it, Poppy?" He held out an arm to her.

Tiana rolled her eyes and grinned.

Tristan knew he wouldn't hear the end of her teasing after this.

Poppy looked surprised, and then delighted. "Alright." She said.

Tristan threw a glare at Tiana as he whisked Poppy onto the dance floor.

In a matter of moments, he soon discovered that Fira must not have had a chance to discuss more about him with Poppy since the girl's friendly comportment hadn't changed toward him in any way. She seemed to be enjoying herself and when she made mistakes, which happened to be most of the time, she simply laughed about it.

Tristan had only planned to do one dance with her to make her father happy, but when the song ended and he looked at the back deck window again, he could see Brutus still standing there and this time Tristan was close enough to see the smile stretched across the man's face.

Tristan bit his lip and turned to Poppy again. "How about another one?"

"Oh, I was hoping you would ask. It was so fun and I need more practice." Poppy bubbled.

Halfway into the next dance after Poppy grew a little more comfortable with the steps she piped up again. "I can't believe how good you are at this." she said. "Do you dance for shows or something?"

"No way." Tristan replied with a slight laugh. "I'm not the show type. My mother just had all of us children take lessons since we were small. I think she hoped that at least one of us would take an interest in it and go far with it. I wasn't the one though."

"Why not? You're so good!" Poppy pulled away for a moment and stepped back. "Do something freestyle. I want to see what you come up with."

Tristan was about to decline, but the girl somehow made her pretty blue eyes look bigger and they sparkled in the light of the many lanterns hanging from the rafters. She clasped her hands beneath her chin and gazed up at him.

"Please?" She said.

He hesitated and another dancer nearly bumped into him so he immediately set to dancing again. As he glanced toward the back deck window, he was irritated to see Brutus still watching. Would that man ever leave him alone? Didn't he have something better to do? The song was not extremely fast, but it had enough pep to it to throw in some of the fun steps he'd learned over the years and a few of the more complicated moves. He tore his attention away from the window and found Poppy still watching him too. Maybe after this he would seek out a magician that could teach him the disappearing act. It was times like these that it would come in really handy. When the song ended, it was all he could do to keep from running from the dance floor.

Poppy met him and clapped her hands in glee. "That was amazing. Why don't you go into performance?"

Tristan frowned slightly. "Never really wanted to, I guess. Remember, I'm not a performer."

"What else do you do with yourself then?" Poppy asked while they both headed for the table laden with glasses and the huge bowl of fruit juice. Tiana had disappeared, probably somewhere surrounded by her friends.

"Well, I work in the restaurant." Tristan said.

"No, I'm not talking about typical work. What else do you find enough interest in that you won't pursue dancing and entertainment?"

Tristan took a moment to sip the juice, trying to figure out how to answer without telling her about Rider training. Now was probably not the best time to open up that can of worms. Maybe he could meet with the girl alone sometime and just explain everything. She seemed to be enjoying herself so much at the moment and he didn't want to put any kind of damper on her special birthday.

Poppy waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey there. You're suddenly miles away."

"Sorry." Tristan said quickly. "I—uh—I love sports. I competed a lot in games and sports when I was younger."

"But not anymore?"

Tristan dropped his gaze to the floor. "Not recently." Before Poppy could delve any deeper, he quickly asked the next question steering the attention away from himself. "So what about you? What do _you_ do with yourself?"

Poppy tucked a curl behind her ear. "Well, I like to go to parties and I like to watch shows and performers. I like interacting with babies, hatchlings and children, and as you know already, I love to crochet, making things out of colorful yarn."

"Do you have any other jobs you do?" Tristan asked. "I mean, other than the teaching at the school?"

"Well, I make things with the yarn and have them shipped to different stores. When I'm not doing that, I'm usually helping with chores around the house or helping look after my younger siblings. Also, when Mother isn't too busy, she teaches me how to cook which I find challenging, but fun too."

Tristan's lips finally twitched into a slight smile. "I've grown up working in my parent's restaurant so you would think I could cook, but I can't. I've tried and I ruin everything I touch. After several horrible attempts, one of the cooks finally begged my parents to keep me out of the kitchen unless it was to wash dishes and scrub floors and counters."

Poppy laughed. "Maybe you just need someone to personally instruct you."

Tristan shook his head. "Both Mother and some of the other cooks tried, but I guess I'm just not cut out to be a chef."

"Maybe that's because you're supposed to be doing something else." Poppy suggested. She looked as if she were thinking hard for a moment, then her eyes brightened. "Hey I know. I remember you doing that Skybax Rider's salute. You said you were just messing around, trying it out to see what it felt like, but you did it so naturally. Maybe you should be a Skybax Rider."

Tristan winced at the girl's comment.

Poppy immediately noticed his discomfort and apologized. "I'm sorry. Not a good idea, I guess. Being a Skybax Rider isn't for just anyone, I hear."

"You got that right." Someone said loudly from behind them.

Both Tristan and Poppy spun around to see who had jumped into their conversation.

Tristan stared in total surprise at the lanky lad picking up a glass of fruit juice from the table. After draining the contents from the glass, the guy leaned against the table in a casual manner, setting the empty cup back down and crossing his arms.

Tristan's first look of surprise quickly transitioned to contempt. It was his old rival from back in Canyon City: Mathias. The last time they had parted ways, it was not on friendly terms.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

At first, Tristan thought that Mathias had been given an assignment that involved hunting him down and trying to get him to return to Canyon City like Taddeo had, but judging by the young Skybax Rider's acidic expression, he wondered if the guy was hunting him down on his own, seeking revenge. Mathias had never fully approved of Tristan's dealings with the rogue skybaxes, but Tristan suspected that his motivation on tracking him down was because of something more. They'd had a misunderstanding over a girl—Fira, to be exact—which had ended up in a full fledged brawl which Mathias had started. Tristan had won the fight with Mathias, then he'd left Fira and Mathias to settle their differences on their own while he'd walked away from it all and didn't look back.

Mathias spoke up again. "My cousin's birthday party was the last place I expected to see you." He said, the expression on his face giving away his acrimonious feelings. "What are you doing here?"

"I was fixing to ask you the same thing." Tristan replied, eyeing the other guy warily. Mathias's arms were cross and his head held high, conveying the message that he was ready for battle at any given moment and the faint scars which were still visible on one side of his face added to his intimidating appearance.

"What? You mean you two know each other?" Poppy asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Know each other? Hah!" Mathias laughed bitterly. "Unfortunately, yes. What boggles me though, is finding a guy like Tristan in your company."

"What do you mean?" Poppy replied. "You act as if he were no better than a Drifter."

Tristan quickly intervened. "What he means is that we know each other, but we don't exactly get along." His mind was reeling, wondering how he was going to get away from Mathias and avoid impending disaster. As a result he subconsciously started backing away. It seemed ironic that two of the people he trained with back at Canyon City had a connection with Poppy.

"But how do you know each other?" Poppy said, utterly confused. "Mathias is all the way from Prosperine. Besides, he's been gone for ages, training over in Canyon City." She looked at her cousin. "You just flew in today for the party, right? Just like my friend, Fira."

Tristan held his breath, wondering what Mathias would say in answer to Poppy's question.

Mathias's eyebrows shot upward and he seemed to overlook the question. "Fira? She's your friend? And she's here?" His eyes suddenly darted around the room, searching for the girl.

Tristan blew out his breath and leaned against the wall, looking upward for a moment. He needed to get out of here, but how to go about it without appearing suspicious seemed to be a great hurdle to get around.

"Well, yes." Poppy replied. "Although I don't know where she is at the moment." The girl suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh! Why didn't I make the connection earlier! Mathias! You and Fira probably trained together. How wonderful! Now I have two Rider friends." Her amiable smile returned again.

"Yes. It is nice." Mathias replied flatly. I happen to know Fira quite well."

"Oh, you should've seen Tristan and Fira earlier." Poppy bubbled. "They met and danced for the first time." She giggled. "They looked good together, too."

Tristan winced at the girl's comment. It looked like Poppy was unknowingly opening the dreaded can of worms for him. The girl really needed to learn how to fetter that tongue.

"Did they now?" Mathias threw a sideways glance in Tristan's direction even though he was clearly talking to Poppy. "You haven't known this guy for very long, have you?"

Poppy set her glass down on the table. "Well no, not exactly." She said slowly while her eyes darted back and forth between the two guys. "What are you getting at, Mathias?" She was appalled at the sudden tension in the air.

Just then Tiana appeared with Sekani right behind her and Celesta trailing along behind both of them.

Tristan wasn't sure whether their appearance was good or bad news. At least Fira seemed to be nowhere in sight.

"Hey, there you two are." Tiana said brightly. "I was wondering where you disappeared to. Don't tell me you're tired of dancing already?" The girl happily twirled around and waltzed over to the table of drinks.

"We were just taking a break." Poppy said, relieved for the distraction from the awkward moment between her cousin and her friend.

Tiana sipped her drink and scanned her surroundings, suddenly realizing how quiet everyone seemed. She also noticed the young Skybax Rider in uniform standing in front of Poppy as if they'd been talking just before she arrived. "Did I interrupt something?" Tiana said.

"Oh no." Poppy replied quickly. "I was just catching up with my cousin, that's all. He hasn't visited for some time so I am glad that he was finally able to make it over to the party."

Tiana stepped back a little. "Don't let me interrupt then. Carry on. I'll go back to dancing again. I'll catch up with you later."

Poppy caught the girl's sleeve before she could escape again. "No really, stay for a while. You haven't met him yet anyway."

Tiana looked longingly out to the dance floor, but then turned her focus on her new friend. "Alright then, I'll hang out for a few minutes. Really I just wondered where you and Tristan had gone, that's all, then I was going to go dance some more."

Poppy motioned toward Mathias. "Tiana, meet my cousin, Mathias. He's a freshly graduated Apprentice Rider from Canyon City."

Tiana smiled cordially. "I can see that by the uniform. Pleased to meet you."

Mathias returned the smile graciously. "And I'm pleased to meet you."

Sekani suddenly nosed his way into the circle, not about to be left out. Mathias took a step back, a little surprised by the creature's sudden appearance. Tiana laughed. "This is my deinonychus buddy, Sekani."

Celesta remained behind the dinosaur, clearly trying to hide. Mathias noticed her though. He briefly greeted the dinosaur before asking, "And who is this lovely girl?"

Tiana glanced behind her and spotted her younger sister. "Oh. That's my sister. Celesta, stop being so shy and come forward and meet this guy."

Celesta hesitated.

Mathias grinned. "Awe. No need to be so shy. I won't bite. I mean, this deinonychus here would be more likely to do that before me."

Tristan rolled his eyes. Mathias always did have a way with girls.

Celesta smiled half heartedly, but did not step forward. Mathias simply moved forward and offered the formal Dinotopian greeting. Sekani watched the young man closely as if trying to figure out whether he should ward him off or not.

Tristan caught Sekani glancing back at him so he shook his head and made a face, letting the deinonychus know what he thought of Mathias. Sekani immediately understood and turned his attention back to the young man.

Celesta refused to step away from the dinosaur, so after the greeting was over she backed up, hiding completely behind the dinosaur. Sekani used that opportunity to give the young man a low warning growl.

Mathias sent the deinonychus a startled look, then stepped back. He looked as if he were going to say something, but instead he merely shrugged and turned his attention back to Poppy and Tiana. "Well, I just arrived at your party. Sorry I'm a little late. Did I miss out on much?" He spoke in a casual tone, but he kept the dinosaur within his peripheral vision.

"Dancing." Poppy and Tiana said almost in unison. "And it'll be over before you know it." Poppy went on. Tiana looked longingly over at the dance floor again where a colorful assortment of people and dinosaurs were still dancing to the music. "I think I've taken a long enough break. I'm going back out there." She turned to Poppy. "You coming too?" She looked beyond Sekani to see Tristan leaning against the wall. "Come on, Tristan. I see that party pooper face. Come back out here and have some fun."

Tristan shook his head and avoided Mathias's penetrating gaze.

Mathias turned his attention back to Tiana. "What do you know about that guy anyway? He's nothing but a load of trouble. I wouldn't keep company with him if I were you."

Tiana stepped away from Mathias and frowned. "Wait a minute. How do you know him? What makes you talk so negatively about him?"

Tristan heard her reply and decided that things were definitely going from bad to worse. Tiana had a quick temper and usually wasn't afraid to vocalize her opinion. He shot a desperate look at Sekani.

The dinosaur could see that Tristan was distressed, but was still trying to figure out a way to give the young Skybax Rider the message to skedaddle without appearing unreasonably vicious. He shifted back and forth on his feet as he analyzed the situation.

Mathias raised his eyebrows and looked from Tiana to Poppy. "Both of you seem to be clearly defensive about this guy. It's surprising. Do either of you know who he really is?"

Tiana set her cup down on the table a little too hard.

_Bonk!_

"He's my brother and I don't know what you have against him, but I'd appreciate it if you would at least show some respect toward him." She said loudly as her face took on a stormy expression.

Mathias looked totally surprised. "Your brother? Well, I can honestly say that I didn't see _that_ coming."

"Why?" Tiana challenged. "It appears you have something against him."

"Well for one thing you don't seem too concerned about what kind of reputation he has back at Canyon City." Mathias replied. "How well do you know your brother anyway? I have a suspicion he's been hiding some things about himself from you. Either that, or you're in league with his him since you're kin."

Tiana's eyes narrowed at the Skybax Rider.

Poppy's jaw dropped.

Sekani snarled at Mathias.

Celesta covered her mouth with both hands, her gray eyes looking horrified.

Mathias eased away from the deinonychus, but maintained his cool.

Tristan felt his own temper rising. He pushed away from the wall and marched up to the young Rider. "You leave my sister out of this, Mathias."

Mathias rolled his eyes. "Why? Because she doesn't know what a troublemaker you are?" He spread his arms out wide. "So this is where you ended up." He added. "You stirred up trouble with the canyon skybaxes, failed Rider training, ran away, and thought you could hide in Sauropolis since its one of Dinotopia's largest cities."

Tristan cringed at the other guy's words. Mathias had left out the part about their last fight before he'd left Canyon City. It appeared the guy was still upset with him over that event, otherwise he wouldn't be verbally pounding him like this.

As if he'd read Tristan's thoughts, a sudden frown creased Mathias's brow.

"And I can't believe you still had the gall to go and dance with Fira after everything that happened back at Canyon City before you left. You know, there was a time I started to believe that you weren't so bad. I even trusted you once, letting you know how I felt toward her, which I deeply regret now since you went and double crossed me. And it appears that you're _still_ at it."

Tristan struggled to keep his anger under control. He glanced around the room briefly before answering, but still didn't see Fira anywhere. Where had she disappeared to at the moment anyway? Had she been upset and left the party early?

He shifted his attention back to Mathias. "Look. Sauropolis is my home. My life and what I do with it is none of your business. Now stay out of it." He tried to push past the guy, but Mathias caught his arm.

"It's my business when you mess with my girl."

"Is she really your girl? Because when we danced, she never indicated that she was."

Mathias looked as if he were about to take a swing at Tristan, but he held back and used another verbal missile instead. "Hey. I don't know what you're doing here at my cousin's party, but I'll be sure and tell her who and what you truly are because I'm sure _you_ haven't told her." He threw a glance over at Poppy who was standing still with her blue eyes wide, taking in every word of the conversation with a look of dismay on her face.

Tristan looked the young man up and down with contempt. Mathias wore a spotless Apprentice Rider's uniform. Of course. Mathias always was one to show off. If he was coming to a party, he was apparently off duty and in no need of wearing the uniform. Obviously he only wanted to show off his success.

As if he were able to read Tristan's thoughts, Mathias's stormy expression shifted into a wicked grin. "Wish you had one, don't you?" He taunted. "But you never deserved it."

Tristan's temper blazed. Forgetting about his sisters, Sekani, and Poppy watching, he grabbed the other guy by the front of his uniform and shoved him up against the wall. "You're the one who doesn't deserve it, Mathias." He spat into the Rider's face. "You have the arrogance of a tyrannosaurus rex."

"Well you have the ferocity of one." Mathias shot back. "Now let me go."

Tristan glared at the other guy, but released his tight grip.

Mathias adjusted his rumpled uniform. "Look. I know you're jealous, but it isn't going to change anything. Apparently I _do _deserve it, because I have a skybax companion waiting for me at the Sauropolis Rookery. She knows she can _trust_ me. After you dabbled in places you shouldn't have, its no wonder that you ran into so much conflict with the skybaxes. You really shouldn't have fraternized with that rogue group. The canyon skybaxes are still on edge and fights are breaking out more frequently among them. And it's _all your fault_." Mathias said emphatically, pointing at Tristan. "You said once that you were trying to establish peace, but your efforts seem to have had the opposite effect, which makes me question what you're intentions really were to begin with. It looks to me like you've turned into a Drifter. And you know what? If you would've done as you were told in the beginning and left things alone, nothing would've happened to Twilight."

It was only a verbal blow, but it left Tristan feeling almost breathless.

Mathias's eyes sparked dangerously as if he were baiting Tristan to another fight.

Tristan took the bait.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It wasn't the first fight Tristan had gotten into with Mathias, but it was the first fight that got him into more trouble than he'd ever been in before. The repercussions went far beyond what he could've ever imagined.

He vaguely heard Celesta in the background. "Tristan don't! There's a better way to settle—"

But he didn't hear the rest. For the moment he felt so angry that he couldn't even think and his emotions took control. He threw a swift uppercut at Mathias's face, but the other guy anticipated the move and counteracted with a straight punch.

Tristan stepped backward, dodging the punch, but held his ground. Where had this guy's newfound confidence come from? The last time that he had fought with Mathias back at Canyon City, Tristan had come out on the winning end, hardly scathed. He decided that he wasn't going to let the young Rider's confident front keep him from finishing what he started though. He advanced, acting like he was going to throw a jab toward his face. Mathias brought his arms up to block him, but Tristan wasn't throwing a mere punch this time. He spun into a round kick.

Mathias dodged quickly to avoid the move, but wasn't fast enough and the blow landed against his upper arm. He toppled over, unable to keep his balance and went down. Tristan jumped on him, but before he could get another punch in, Mathias raised a knee into Tristan's stomach. Tristan fell back, gasping for air and had to roll quickly out of the way to dodge a kick from Mathias.

When Mathias missed, Tristan scrambled to his feet again to get a better stance.

"Stop it." Poppy pleaded, but neither of the young men paid any attention.

Tristan recovered quickly and immediately attacked Mathias again, switching to fast palm heel punches, but Mathias blocked all of them.

Tristan felt unnerved to see that his opponent had apparently improved his defense moves since their last fight. Doubt of his own success gripped his mind as he realized that he might've made a huge mistake in starting a fight with him. It was almost as if Mathias had wanted it, eager to get revenge since the last fight.

Mathias remained ready, hands raised, while a hint of a grin twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Tristan wanted to crush that grin, but he fought the urge to swing a fist at the guy's jaw. This time he needed to try a different tactic. Instead of trying to be the first one to attack, he hesitated just long enough for the other guy make the next move.

Mathias seemed eager for the chance to advance and aimed a fast hook toward Tristan's jaw. Instead of blocking, Tristan ducked swiftly and aimed a punch toward the other guy's stomach.

Mathias staggered backward from the punch, gasping, but Tristan didn't just punch. He moved both fists to the guys stomach and pushed, pressing his weight against his opponent, driving him backward. He didn't see the table behind Mathias, laden with pottery cups full of fruit juice and the enormous glass punch bowl and the assortment of refreshments. Mathias's back struck the table and it toppled over with a resounding crash while food, juice, glass, and broken pottery scattered everywhere.

Both of the young men ended up on the floor with the table flipped up on its side right behind them. While Tristan jumped to his feet again, Mathias grasped the edge of the table, hoisting himself up and clambered over it.

Tristan threw himself forward in an effort to knock the other guy down again before he got out of reach. He managed to strike Mathias on the back, but the table lying on its side between them got in his way, bringing him up short. The table blocked most of the strength out of his blow, but even so Mathias tottered, unable to keep from slipping on the shattered glass covering the floor on the opposite side of the table. As he struggled to stay upright, it gave Tristan just enough time to hurdle himself over the table in hot pursuit.

Tristan didn't count on the floor being so slippery either. He staggered and threw both arms out to steady himself. By that time, Mathias had regained his balance and seeing Tristan struggle, he saw his chance. He turned, dealing a swift sidekick to Tristan's unprotected chest.

The blow sent Tristan pitching backward onto the floor among the broken glass and pottery. He dropped his hands down in an effort to catch himself, but immediately regretted it as he felt the shards of glass slicing into his palms. His arms buckled. Broken glass and pottery crunched beneath the weight of his body, pricking through his clothes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mathias coming at him again. He barely had time to roll sideways in order to avoid the next blow. As he rolled, he felt the broken glass and pottery stabbing his back and arms. Since he was down on his back, he threw a fist out, striking Mathias against a kneecap.

Mathias stumbled, but still brought his other foot around, striking Tristan right against the side of his face, but the effort of performing the hard kick while slightly off balance caused Mathias to tumble down to the glass covered floor as well.

Tristan sucked his breath in sharply through his teeth, briefly immobilized by the pain which seared through the left side of his face, centered right below his eye. Explosions of colorful speckles marred his vision and his ears buzzed.

"That was for trying to take Fira away from me." Mathias spat as he scrambled to his knees and reached Tristan again within seconds.

Tristan barely had time to throw his arms up across his face, protecting it from the blow which slammed into his arms instead. But he forgot to keep one arm down to shield his middle. Having both arms up left his torso completely exposed and the next blow struck his already throbbing ribs.

"And that is for fracturing a couple of my ribs back at Canyon City. Hurts like Hell, doesn't it?"

Tristan didn't answer because for the moment he could hardly breathe against the pain. He dropped his arms down from his face and wrapped them around his middle. In his blurry vision he could see Mathias looming above him, fist readied for another blow. He tried to kick at the other guy, but Mathias dodged, shifting to the side while at the same time, bringing down a fist into Tristan's other eye.

"And that is for dancing with Fira tonight."

Tristan blindly rolled sideways, but another blow landed against the side of his mouth. Now he tasted blood.

"And that is for leading Poppy on without telling her who you really are."

Tristan realized with a feeling of deep regret that he was losing this fight—_badly_.

Before Mathias could rearrange his nose next, Tristan heard a ferocious growl breaking through the ringing in his ears. Through his blurry vision, he caught sight of Mathias being dragged backward by Sekani. The angry raptor had his jaw clamped over Mathias's shoulder, biting holes through the Rider's fine uniform. Mathias had a shocked look on his face as he struggled to free himself.

Then Tristan felt himself being hauled to his feet and the next thing he knew he was face to face with Brutus Harper. The man bent over so that he could look Tristan in the eyes. "What is the meaning of this?" He roared. "Tristan, someone told me that you threw the first punch. You'd better have a good reason for causing this disaster."

Tristan tried hard to look strong, to still look angry, but his chest felt like it was going to burst with every breath he took, and the pain in face was distracting, not to mention his head was spinning and he was really glad that the strong man was holding him up because at the moment he was afraid he'd fall flat on his face without the support.

"Papa!" Poppy bounded forward. "Please. Can't you see he's hurt?"

"He brought it on himself." The man growled. "If he's going to pick a fight he's going to have to deal with the consequences. He shook Tristan slightly. "Speak up, boy!"

Tristan managed to raise a hand and pointed at Mathias. "Him." He gasped. "He's got the tongue of a viper and the integrity of a fool. He doesn't deserve that uniform." Blood oozed from his busted lip as he spoke.

"That is my nephew." Brutus said contemptuously, "And I won't have you bad mouthing him right here in my house, much less picking a fight right in the middle of my living room floor. I don't know what you two are really fighting about, but it stops right here." He shot a glare at the other young man, but his glare shifted to dismay. "Someone get that blasted deinonychus off of him!" Brutus fumed.

Seeing that the huge man's anger was now directed at him, Sekani let go of Mathias, though reluctantly.

"Mathias, go clean yourself up. I'll deal with you later." Brutus commanded.

By now the swinging room had calmed down somewhat for Tristan. As his gaze switched to Mathias, he noticed that the Rider's uniform was shredded at the shoulder where the young raptor had grabbed it with his teeth and blood was quickly staining the material, blending in with the already red hued uniform.

Tristan felt relieved that the deinonychus was on his side.

Mathias walked away, wincing as he touched his shoulder, but he still managed to throw one last triumphant look in Tristan's direction.

Sekani, loyal to his family, snarled, and snapped his teeth at the guy's heels, causing Mathias to pick up speed as he exited the room.

Brutus practically dragged Tristan to the entryway. The people standing around and staring and murmuring to one another as they watched all blended into a colorful blur as Tristan passed them.

Then, Fira seemed to step out of nowhere, looking like a beautiful mirage in her green dress. "Tristan, apparently you have changed for the worse." She sounded angry. "I hardly even know you anymore. I mean, the way you've behaved here recently is about to convince me that you've stooped to the level of a Drifter."

Brutus paused. "What do you know about this young man?"

A shiver of fear coursed through Tristan's spine at hearing the girl's accusation. Drifter. And what made it worse was hearing that come from Fira, who had once been a good friend.

"He's not been entirely honest, I can say that much." Fira replied.

"Enlighten me." Brutus said.

Fira cleared her throat. "Poppy told me that the day she met him he was carrying an egg in his backpack, supposedly delivering it to the Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery. Well, I visited my grandparent's Hatchery just before coming here and no orphaned eggs had been brought in for the past three months. I just went and checked at the Sauropolis Hatchling Nursery and it appears that none have been brought there recently either. I just can't imagine what he's done with that egg."

She shifted her gaze to Tristan and glowered at him. "What have you become?" She hissed.

Tristan felt sick. So that's why Fira had disappeared for awhile. She had gone to visit the Hatchling Nursery. Had this party been set up just to trap him? Because it sure felt like it right now.

Brutus gave Tristan a hard look. "Well, are you going to say anything to defend yourself? This young lady here has delivered a very harsh accusation and for your sake, I hope she's mistaken."

Tristan's mind was spinning nearly as bad as his vision. "This is all a big misunderstanding." He finally managed to say.

"Go on and explain yourself then." Brutus challenged.

A minute dragged by while Tristan wrestled with his tangled thoughts, unable to figure out how to even begin explaining his way out of this terrible mess that he had somehow created himself. The musicians were no longer playing and people were murmuring to one another in low voices. It reminded Tristan of the grumble of thunder of a storm brewing in the far distance—a storm that was approaching to consume him.

"Nothing?" Brutus barked. "Alright then, maybe the city officials can get you to talk."

As Brutus led him to the door, Tristan caught sight of his two sisters watching. Celesta had a worried look on her face and Tiana stepped forward looking as if she wasn't sure whether she should slap Fira, or Tristan, or both.

Tristan swallowed hard, realizing how shocked and confused Tiana must be with all this new information which cropped up about the egg. He'd been so worried about how to explain about the egg to the rest of his family, putting it off for so long, and now this was probably the worst way any of them could find out.

As Brutus wrenched open the door, Tristan kept his eyes trained on his sisters as he raised two fingers to his lips, the signal they'd come up with when they were younger. It meant the same thing as "Shhh, be quiet," but two fingers meant, "And don't tell Mother and Father." It had been a long time since he'd used that signal since it was something they'd come up with when they used to play together as children so he hoped they would remember what it meant.

Tiana nodded slightly, conveying that she understood, but her eyes were filled with reproach.

Tristan shifted his gaze to Celesta and wished he had a signal that meant "Don't let anyone get that egg." Judging by Celesta's expression though, he decided that there was no need. She knew. She would take care of it. He trusted her. He _had _to.

Brutus dumped him outside the door and the young pachycephalosaurus who had ushered him in earlier that evening stepped forward at Brutus's bidding.

"Take this young man to the nearest street guards and tell them to escort him to the city officials." Brutus explained. "He's disrupted this event, been violent toward my nephew, and destroyed some of my best dinnerware. He won't explain himself and he's been accused of unlawfully keeping an egg from the Hatcheries. I want him questioned as well as punished for his rude behavior. And considering the way he has acted he could really be a Drifter for all I know."

Clearly the man was voicing his frustration, because the pachy couldn't understand all that. Brutus snatched a stick poking out of the message sand box by the door and using the universal footprint letters, he quickly scratched out a much shorter message for the creature. Then he turned to Tristan. "I am sorely disappointed in you." He seethed.

Tristan looked away. He was pretty disgusted with himself. So far he'd managed to let everyone down, his family, his friends, his skybax partner, and the little hatchling to be that the skybax had entrusted to him. That's what stung the most along with Fira's accusation and the betrayed look in Poppy's eyes.

Tristan refused to look Brutus in the eyes again. The fight was taking a toll on him and he didn't want the man to see his weakness. He tried desperately to keep from grunting in pain when the pachy hauled him roughly to his feet again. He fought the urge to double over and somehow managed to remain mostly upright.

Poppy pushed through the doorway. "Tristan!" She rushed toward him, but her father caught her before she could reach him. "Papa, please don't be so hard on him. You know how arrogant Mathias can be. He said some things that upset Tristan. This is all probably some huge mistake."

"That's no excuse for displaying violence." The man said.

"It's not fair! Mathias was violent too." Poppy argued. "Please don't send Tristan away. He's hurt."

"He'll be just fine. Now go back inside."

Poppy gave Tristan one last look. Her eyes reflected concern, but also confusion.

Tristan drew a ragged breath. "I'm sorry." He managed to say. It felt like such a lame thing to say and utterly pointless, but he couldn't think of anything better.

Poppy's eyes filled with tears and she fled back inside. Brutus followed after her, slamming the door behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It didn't take the young pachycephalosaurus long to alert the street guards. Two hefty looking stygimoloches, each wearing a vest bearing the Sauropolis street guard insignia, dutifully took Tristan from the pachy. The spiny headed creatures conversed with each other, speaking a saurian language that Tristan couldn't understand. The last thing he wanted was to be locked up for the night and facing the city council the next morning as if he were no better than a Drifter, but it looked like that was to be his fate.

The stygimoloches secured Tristan between the two of them and escorted him down the street. He tried hard to walk steady, but merely breathing became a painful chore. He stumbled over a loose cobblestone and sank to his knees. His thoughts tumbled through his mind and though it was difficult to grab a thought and ponder it for more than a few seconds, two thoughts resurfaced like a slap in the face.

_"And it's all your fault…What have you become?" _

What hurt the most was the fact that he couldn't disagree. Everything _was _his fault. He couldn't blame anyone else. He'd been plunging in a downward spiral for some time now and he wasn't sure how to stop it. And what _had _he become? Certainly nothing he really wanted to be.

The stygimoloches grunted back and forth, obviously discussing what to do with him. Then one of them leaned down, placing a claw beneath Tristan's chin, tilting his face up where it could look him in the eyes.

Tristan glanced down at the creature's vest, and in the dull lighting of the street lamp, he managed to read the name stitched to the bright red material: Farsight.

The stygimoloch grunted and looked at the other one as if asking its opinion. Then the other one leaned forward, scrutinizing him too, sniffing noisily, then nodded.

Tristan squinted, managing to catch sight of this one's name, too. Stomper. He lifted a hand to swipe away the blood trickling down his cheek, but was dismayed to see that both of his palms were bleeding. Because of the more prominent pain in chest and face, he'd momentarily forgotten about his hands.

After exchanging looks again with Stomper, Farsight lifted a claw and pointed to Tristan's necktie.

Tristan fumbled to untie it and finally pulled it away from his neck.

The dinosaur snatched it away from him and used it to swab away the blood oozing from his lips and the bruising scrape beneath the eye where Mathias had booted him. Then she tore it in half and used the pieces of material to bind his bleeding hands. She was clumsy with her saurian claws, but she still managed to do the job, nonetheless. Tristan refrained from protesting, but found it difficult to hold still as sharp pricks of pain pierced through his palms as the material tightened over his hands.

He clenched his teeth, determined to not let the creatures see his weakness anymore. He was grateful for the assistance, but he really hoped they wouldn't decide to take him to the infirmary. He would be questioned there and he wasn't ready to talk. He needed more time to think and at this point the less public this ordeal went, the better.

Farsight nudged his shoulder, urging him to stand again.

Tristan stood, though he still felt a bit wobbly. They started forward, but neither of the dinosaurs held him tightly, deciding that the young man was hurting enough that he wouldn't be attempting an escape.

It was the truth—the hurting part anyway, but Tristan was definitely still looking for an opportunity to escape. The one thing he was getting good at here lately was running away and if he could figure out away to do just that, it could buy him some time to think alone for awhile.

The opportunity arose only moments later.

Sekani rounded the bend in the street behind them. He'd 'borrowed' a little stone statue of a euphalosaurus that had been sitting next to the doorway of a shop and now chunked it at a nearby window pane of a closed shop. The sound of shattering glass immediately caught the guards' attention, having the exact effect that Sekani was looking for.

The guards stopped, conversed shortly in their chirpy, saurian language, then Stomper went to go investigate.

Farsight gave Tristan a hard look and Tristan, suddenly changing his mind about trying to appear tough, decided to try and appear as pitiful as he could. In fact, he even went as far as sinking to his knees again, making it clear that he was in no condition to go anywhere without support. The dinosaur still remained dutifully by his side so he pretended to pass out, slumping all the way over, almost wishing he really was passing out because the jolt sent a fresh wave of pain through his ribs and the pressure intensified around his bruising eyes. He held his eyes closed and hoped he looked unconscious.

Farsight dragged him out of the center of the street and dumped him in a nearby doorway of another closed shop. She sniffed him over, grunted in satisfaction, then sprinted off to see if Stomper needed assistance.

Tristan opened one eye and was relieved to see the stygimoloch leaving.

This was exactly what Sekani was waiting for. The moment Farsight was gone, he darted out of his hiding place and approached Tristan.

Without a word, Tristan got to his feet and the two turned off into the nearest alley, but Tristan quickly discovered that he couldn't move as fast as Sekani.

The deinonychus glanced behind him to see that Tristan was moving awkwardly and abnormally slow for his usual athletic pace. Sekani knew there was no time to waste. The deinonychus spun around, hooked one of his scaly arms firmly beneath the young man's shoulder and took off again.

As much as he wanted to stay concealed and follow through with the escape, Tristan suddenly realized that he could not run. A startled howl of pain slipped out as the strong deinonychus jerked into a run, practically dragging him along.

Then they both heard Farsight's cry of alarm in the distance.

Sekani didn't stop. He pressed on, twisting, dodging, then turning down a different street. Tristan tried to keep up, his feet slipping repeatedly, slowing down their progress. He felt his strength leaving him rapidly and desperately fought to remain conscious. He couldn't seem to take deep breaths and his feet weren't working like he wanted them to and then his head started spinning again. Now he couldn't tell the bottom of the street from the night sky. Which was up and which was down? Were those street lamps glittering or stars?

Tristan's legs collapsed beneath him, causing Sekani to stumble and nearly let go of him. One of his sickle shaped foot claws came dangerously close to slashing open Tristan's chin as he fell forward. Tristan caught sight of the claw briefly gleaming in the glow of a streetlamp, inches away from his face, but the dinosaur managed to move his foot just in time.

Sekani hooked both of his arms under Tristan's shoulders and pulled him into an open warehouse and down a short flight of steps which led to a cool basement filled with barrels and crates. With a flick of his tail, he pushed the door shut behind him and deposited Tristan in front of a stack of crates. Then he moved as quickly as he could, grunting at the effort as he pushed a couple of heavy barrels in front of the door in case the pair of stygimoloch managed to track them there. Maybe they'd think the door was locked if they couldn't easily push it open.

Tristan coughed and groaned miserably as he struggled to sit up.

Sekani quickly returned to him and slapped a clawed hand over the young human's mouth, trying to get him to be quiet until he was sure that the street guards were far enough away.

Tristan lay on his back, his chest heaving from the effort of the escape. Every breath he took felt like a knife slicing through his ribcage. He tried to push aside the dinosaur's claws, but the Sekani remained vigil, listening intently for any sounds that would indicate that the stygimoloches had managed to track them there.

Several minutes went by, but they seemed much longer to Tristan. It was hard enough just to breathe and the dinosaur's hand pressed over his mouth felt suffocating. He tried sucking in air through his nose, but it didn't seem to be enough. Another minute dragged by. Tristan couldn't see well in the dark room, but his head felt strange, like he might pass out. He lifted a hand and tugged frantically at the dinosaur's arm again.

Sekani finally let go, making a hissing sound through his teeth, mimicking the sound he'd heard humans use when they wanted someone to be quiet. "Shhhhh…"

Tristan took the hint and said nothing at first, using the time to get his breathing back under control. As the minutes passed, Sekani relaxed a little, deciding that if the stygimoloches were going to find them it would've happened by now.

The air felt chilly in the basement and the sweet aroma of fruits was thick in the air. It must've been a fresh shipment stored in the basement to keep them cool overnight before being either processed or put on the market the next day.

"Sekani," Tristan finally said softly, testing to see if the dinosaur would let him speak yet.

Sekani grunted in approval.

"Thanks for helping me escape." He tried to sit up and quickly decided it was still too soon. "Ouch!" He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated. He wrapped one arm around his middle, willing the pain to stop, or at least ease up a little, but it didn't, at least not as quickly as he wanted it to. "I'm sorry…I couldn't run well…and made it…hard on you."

Sekani growled, clearly agitated. What was he to do now? He'd gone to all that trouble to help his friend and now apparently he'd done more harm than good. He paced in an agitated manner, his mind racing, trying to figure out what to do. After a moment he stopped. "Inferrrr…inf…?" He asked, stumbling with the tricky word.

Tristan's eyes by now had adjusted to the darkness and he could barely make out the shape of the deinonychus standing in front of him. "Huh?"

Sekani stomped his foot, aggravated. He knew the word he wanted to say, but it was hard to pronounce it. That confounding human language was so difficult to articulate. "Infffffer….firrrrgggrr." He growled.

Tristan attempted to sit up again, going extra slow and this time managed to make it all the way. Relieved with the success, he leaned his back against one of the crates, only to be greeted by the pointy end of a coconut which poked through one of the slats of the crate.

"Firrrmmmgrrrrr…" Sekani was still trying to get the word out.

Tristan scooted sideways, putting a little space between him and the annoying coconuts. Now hairy wisps of the fruit tickled against his ear.

"In…firrrrrr…grrrrreeee." Sekani's voice rose in irritation at the difficult word.

"Infirmary?" Tristan asked. "Is that what you're saying?" He unbuttoned his vest and let it hang loosely in an effort to relieve some pressure around his ribs.

The deinonychus bobbed his head before he realized that the human probably couldn't see his movement very well in the darkness. Raptors were known for having much better night vision than humans. "Esss." He said out loud, his best attempt at a 'yes.' That was an easier word, one syllable, and it was one of his well practiced ones, although he'd given up by now to pronounce that difficult 'y' sound that humans put into some of their words.

Tristan thought about it briefly before answering. "No." He said. "Not the infirmary. They'll ask too many questions. Even if they patch me up first, they'll still send me on to the city officials."

Sekani returned to pacing back and forth again, thinking hard. Who in all of Sauropolis could he trust to take Tristan in, hear his side of the story, and hide him for the time being? Then it hit him. "Shhasha." He said as clearly as he could. Thankfully her name was easy to pronounce, requiring the simple shushing sounds similar to the human's 'be quiet' word.

Tristan squinted up at him in confusion. "Shhasha?"

The deinonychus stomped his foot in frustration.

Then it clicked. "Saoirse…of course." Tristan murmured. She was an old friend who lived in Sauropolis, an herbalist—and a good Healer as well—who kept her practice limited to a small private clinic in her own home, but also worked occasionally for the Sauropolis Infirmary whenever they were short handed. She was a close enough friend and Tristan knew she'd patch him up and keep his secrets as long as he did some work for her or came up with some unusual rocks or Outer World relics to give her in exchange.

"Perfect." Tristan said. "Let's go pay Saoirse a visit." Using the stack of crates for leverage, he slowly managed to get to his feet. He leaned against the crates until the first wave of dizziness passed. Then he took a tentative step forward. A small thread of light from a streetlamp outside filtered through a tiny basement window, allowing just enough light to help him find his way to the door.

Sekani moved the barrels, then returned to Tristan's side to offer him support, but this time Tristan resisted. "Thanks, but I can't afford to get dragged around again. And no offence, but I don't want to risk getting ripped open by a deinonychus claw either. I'm walking to Saoirse's on my own even if it takes all night."

Sekani bobbed his head to show that he understood. Easier than saying yes. With a curt snort, he stepped ahead and led the way out of the warehouse basement.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It didn't take them all night to reach Saoirse's cottage, but it was plenty late. Not only was the going slow because of Tristan, but they took side streets and made sure to stick to the shadows in order to avoid the possibility of meeting up with any street guards.

By the time Sekani and Tristan reached Saoirse's house, most late night activities in the city were over and the streets were deserted. A few compsognathus still lurked about; searching for tasty bits of food that might've been accidently dropped or spilled during the busy day. The swift little saurians darted here and there, chattering to one another in squeaky voices.

At this point Tristan figured the only folks that would be out looking for him would be the street guards, that is, as long as Tiana and Celesta did as he'd signaled them to and kept silent about the whole fight and him being thrown out. Hopefully they hadn't told their mother what had happened yet either. He knew that his sisters would be wondering about him, but surely they knew that Sekani was with him.

Sekani and Tristan made their way to the back door of the cottage which opened directly into the kitchen. Close friends and family always used this door, knowing that Saoirse liked to reserve the front door for business purposes. Sekani thumped his tail against Saoirse's door then waited, impatiently shifting from foot to foot.

Tristan leaned against the door frame for support, exhaustion getting the best of him. By now his left eye was nearly swollen shut, making it even more difficult to see properly and the swelling in his right eye wasn't far behind the other. He kept one arm wrapped over his upper body, trying to get relief from his aching ribs. He wasn't sure if his tired legs would hold him up much longer.

Sekani cast a concerned glance in his direction, then lifted a foot and kicked at the door, his sickle shaped foot claw, scratching the painted wooden surface.

"That's enough." Tristan urged. "Just wait a moment. No need to tear up the door. I don't need the destruction of more personal property added to my list of wrongdoings tonight."

Finally, a flicker of light filtered through a slight gap in one of the window curtains and a moment later they could hear someone shuffling toward the door.

The door creaked open and a tall young man stood there, squinting at them sleepily. His curly black hair was in disarray and his shirt hung crookedly over his shoulders. The grouchy look on his face clearly showed that he'd been woken up, thrown his clothes on, and wasn't happy about the disturbance of his sleep.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this late night city life." The man muttered, fumbling with the ties on the front of his shirt with one hand while holding up a lamp with the other. "This better not be another rogue looking for Saoirse's skills."

Sekani did not recognize this young man who looked older than Tristan, maybe by five years or so. He grunted in frustration. "Shhhasha?" He asked, hoping the young man could tell them where the woman was.

The man lifted the lamp and peered at Sekani. "Yikes, I must be dreaming. A deinonychus…outside of the Rainy Basin. Um…I sure hope he's friendly." He shifted the lamp to see what other oddity might be greeting him.

Tristan, sagging against the doorframe, squinted in the sudden rush of light and turned his head slightly from the glare of the lantern. It took a moment for his vision to adjust after traveling through the darkest streets for the past hour.

The man gave a low whistle. "Wow…" He held the lamp high, his deep blue eyes sweeping over the teenager in the doorway. "It looks like you've been run over by a street taxi then drug behind it for a mile or so…Either that or this deinonychus is to blame."

Sekani snorted in offense at that comment.

"Not a street taxi, not the deinonychus. He's my friend." Tristan explained, slapping an arm out in front of Sekani in an effort to warn the dinosaur not to bother the man standing in front of them.

The man held the door open wide and stepped to the side. "I guess you guys better come on in then." He sounded reluctant, but gestured for them to follow him.

Tristan didn't want to look weak in front of this tall stranger whose deportment exuberated strength and confidence. He resisted Sekani's offer for support and managed to wobble through the doorway and ease himself into a chair at the kitchen table.

Their host immediately busied himself with gathering the kitchen lamps. "I take it you two must be friends of Saoirse's, seeing you used the back door." The man commented, throwing an inquisitive glance in their direction.

"Yes, but where _is_ Saoirse?" Tristan asked, the unhappy surprise at facing a total stranger putting an edge in his tone.

"Well, she's gone to the Forbidden Mountains and she won't be back for several weeks. And before you start asking why so long, she's turned it into a business trip as well as collecting a bunch of herbs to ship back with her." The man explained while he lit the lamps and turned the wicks up. The room now glowed with cheery lantern light.

"What?" Tristan replied in exasperation. "She _had_ to be gone when I needed her the most…Wait a minute. That's right. I met her in the Forbidden Mountains awhile back, but I thought she would've surely been back by now. Hmf. Probably still harvesting valuable resources from the Blue Forest." He mumbled the last words too low for the other guy to catch them.

"I'm sorry." The man said, rubbing the black stubble on his chin. "But you'll have to make do with me, seeing as she left me in charge of the place and the business while she's gone…well, me and Kiko, that is." He added as a dimorphodon flew into the room and perched on one end of the table to see what all the midnight commotion was about.

The man eyed his two guests as if sizing them up and finally grudgingly offered his hand to Tristan and Sekani in the manner of the traditional Dinotopian greeting. "Breathe deep. I'm Weston Alasdair and this is Kiko, my friend and business partner." His voice held a smooth bass tone which almost sounded melodic.

Kiko squawked what sounded like a grumpy hello. Apparently he wasn't too pleased about being disturbed during the night either.

Tristan frowned. Weston Alasdair. Why did that name seem familiar? He looked past the grouchy dimorphodon and looked Weston in the eye. This man was being civil enough, but clearly didn't look too happy about them being there.

Tristan just as grudgingly returned Weston's greeting, only for the sake of trying to establish some thread of trust. "Seek peace. I'm…" He hesitated, suddenly unsure of giving out his name since word might spread through the city to be on the lookout for the egg thief named Tristan Starr. "Call me…Stan and this is Sekani."

Stan was at least close to his real name, although he didn't like using it. He'd been nicknamed that at school when he was younger, but not in a good way. He'd first been called 'Tris,' and teased about it sounding girly, until he'd threatened the teasers that he would knock their teeth out if they ever called him that again. After that the teasers just _had _to win on giving him a nickname, so they settled on calling him 'Stan who ran,' in reference to the time a young brachiosaurus had sneezed behind him, making a sudden and very loud whooshing sound through it's nostrils, causing him to jump and run for cover beneath a nearby gingko tree.

Weston glanced down at the outstretched hand swathed in the bloodstained rag. He decided to skip the second part of the greeting and quickly dropped his hand back to his side. "So…Stan." He said, with a look that showed that he was clearly suspicious of this young, ragged looking rogue standing before him. "Why didn't you just go to the infirmary before you came here? They're open all hours you know, and you look, well—awful, if I may say so."

Even if this guy claimed to work for Saoirse, Tristan didn't want to be too quick to trust him like he would her. "Well…I uh…I've sort of run into some…trouble and…needed someone…I could trust." He said slowly, choosing his words carefully. It was still bothering him that he couldn't place that vaguely familiar name.

"Trouble?" Weston's eyes narrowed with reproach. "Look, I don't know who you are, Mr. _'call me Stan,'_ but from my experience, Dolphin Bay Drifters are usually the ones causing trouble around here and I am _not_ about to offer services to any…not while Saoirse's gone anyway." He added as if it were an after thought.

Tristan's patience, which was very short in supply at the moment, snapped. It was the second time he'd been called a Drifter that night and that was one too many.

"Don't insult me!" He said loudly, slamming a fist against the table top. Caught up in his anger and forgetting to be careful, he stood up quickly as he spoke. Pain lanced through his ribs at the sudden movement, causing him to double over, sucking in his breath through his teeth. One hand clutched at his chest and the other fumbled for the chair to steady himself, but in his slightly impaired vision, he only succeeded in knocking it over. The chair fell with a resounding slap against the flagstone floor. Somehow, he managed to grasp the table next, keeping himself from joining the chair on the floor also.

Kiko squawked in alarm and Sekani sprang to Tristan's side. The deinonychus growled, showing his teeth at Weston.

Breathing hard, Tristan gripped the table, concentrating on the pattern in the grain of the wood as he fought to keep the black speckles dancing before his eyes from taking over. The last thing he wanted to do was to look like a weakling and his hasty outburst had gone against him. "Do not insult me." He repeated in a wobbly tone, struggling to keep his voice steady. "I am an honest citizen of Sauropolis and my family is upright and bears a good name here. They own the Sauropolis Star restaurant."

Oops. He realized then that in his angry haste, he'd given out a link to his real name after all. Maybe the other guy wouldn't ever figure it out. Hopefully. Tristan looked toward the deinonychus and shook his head, signaling that he did not want the dinosaur's assistance. He didn't want to appear any weaker than he already had in front of this guy.

Weston didn't appear startled in the least bit at the young man's sudden outburst of temper. In fact, his calm response indicated that he'd encountered irritable characters multiple times before. "Hmmm." Weston drummed his fingers on the table. "Look. Why don't you just simmer down, take a seat, and be civil. Tell me what you're here for and I'll see what I can do for you, but mind you, considering the fact that right now is not normal business hours; the bartering price is going to be higher…._a lot _higher."

Those were the magic words that helped Tristan make up his mind. "No thanks. I'm sorry we bothered you. We'll just be going on our way then." He shot back. "You couldn't offer me what I need anyway. Saoirse is the one who I need to do business with."

"Oh I couldn't, could I?" Weston challenged, crossing his broad chest with well muscled arms. "Did I not mention that Saoirse left me _in charge_?"

Sekani looked from Tristan to Weston, concerned by the building tension. Tristan had always been intense, which clearly never rubbed well with guys his own age and even though this one looked a bit older than him, apparently it wasn't rubbing well with him either. As Sekani sized up the two, he realized that even if Tristan was at the peak of his health, it was questionable whether he'd come out on the winning side in a tussle with this man. With that build, Weston was clearly the athletic type and Sekani had a feeling that he could put up a decent fight, even against a dinosaur his own size. Maybe he should just grab Tristan and get out before any more trouble started. But Sekani didn't want to drag Tristan around like he did before for fear it would hurt him again. Besides, for some reason, Tristan didn't seem to want his assistance anymore. Finally, Sekani settled with directing another low growl at Weston, just to give him some warning and to try and shave off a little of that man's confidence.

It didn't faze Weston. He unfolded his arms and spread them wide. "Seriously, you guys need to just calm down. Look, I'm Saoirse's cousin. As I said before, I work for her. You can trust me, okay? I apologize about the whole Drifter accusation. You've got to understand where I'm coming from too. If you don't want someone to mistake you for one of those rogues, then you're going to have to do something about that attitude, not to mention your current appearance. Now, listen. I know you weren't expecting a stranger when you came here so I understand that you're a bit tense. We can't change the circumstances so let's just move forward. You both show me some trust and Kiko and I will show you some. Deal?"

Everyone looked at each other for a moment in icy silence. Tristan's gaze drifted down to Weston's hands. The man was asking for a deal, but wasn't holding a hand out to shake on it. Tristan had always been taught to shake on a deal. "If a man can't shake on it, he's most likely cheating you on the bargain." His father had always told him when teaching his son good bartering techniques.

Tristan debated on what to do. Weston was asking for the deal so _he_ should be the one offering to shake on it, but maybe he was simply forgetting bartering etiquette, considering the current situation. This was unusual timing, late in the night, and it was obvious he'd been sound asleep before they'd rudely awakened him by banging on the back door (and scratching it a little too). It was probably a simple slip of the mind. Weston was asking for trust and a fresh start.

When black speckles suddenly returned to his vision, this motivated Tristan to make a decision. He gripped the table tighter and slowly let go of his aching torso in order to hold out his hand toward the young man. "Deal." He grunted.

Weston looked down at the dirty, bandaged, hand and a displeased look crossed his face. But for the sake of the negotiation, he shook Tristan's hand.

Tristan flinched as sharp pains stabbed through his palm, but he was determined to maintain a tough front. He could not keep his eyes from watering slightly though.

Weston quickly let go, frowning a little.

"Now that that's settled, let's discuss what I came here for." Tristan pushed, desperately wanting to appear to be the one in charge. He did not like feeling so inferior in the presence of this man who carried such a dominant demeanor. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. The adrenaline he'd been going on for the past couple of hours seemed to be fading fast.

Weston made his way around the table to pick up the fallen chair. "I think I could guess and you wouldn't have to waste your strength telling me." He grumbled. "Now sit."

Tristan ignored the command for the moment. There were a few things he needed to get straight before they went any further. "First of all, no one is to know that I was here."

Weston rolled his eyes. "Right. That's what they all say."

Tristan gave the man a confused look. He was about to ask what he meant by that, but the rushing sound in his ears distracted him. It sounded like wind. He glanced around, wondering if a window was left open or something. Seeing the nearest window's curtains were drawn closed and showing no sign of shifting against a breeze, he dismissed the matter and pushed on. "I'm kind of…in trouble."

"That was obvious from the beginning." Weston returned, tersely.

"I need…" Tristan hesitated, gripping the table with both hands now. Suddenly he couldn't seem to think straight. "I need…" He repeated, trying to remember what he was going to say. The sound of wind grew stronger, roaring like a canyon windstorm.

"What you need is to sit down." Weston urged.

"Huh?" Tristan could barely hear the other man above the sound now. Then, as if his legs had a mind of their own, they suddenly decided to buckle beneath him.

As he went down he threw out both arms to steady himself, but one arm whacked the chair Weston had just righted only moments before. As the chair flipped back, the front edge popped up and thumped hard against his already aching ribcage.

He slumped back onto the cold, hard, floor and wrapped both arms around his middle, suddenly wishing the fall would've knocked him out completely. He squeezed his eyes shut as he concentrated, holding his breath, trying not to yell against the pain. A shadow passed over his face and he managed to crack open one eye to see who or what was above him.

"Man, you've got to breathe." Weston said calmly as he knelt down beside him. Sekani was on the other side of Tristan, pacing back and forth in agitation.

Tristan managed to let go, gasping in short and fast breaths.

"Well that's a start. Now control it. Slow, deep, breaths." Weston pried at Tristan's arms, trying to break his hold around his middle. "You're in no position to keep being so stubborn. Now let go and let me take a look."

Kiko flew over by Weston's side, ready to assist. When Weston managed to push Tristan's arms away, Kiko hovered above the young man, grabbing his shirt, vest and all, in his clawed feet, and pulled it up.  
"You…know what…to do?" Tristan managed to ask between gasps.

"Most likely." Weston replied.

Sekani stopped pacing and watched intently. He could see the first sign of bruising spreading across his young human friend's left side, streaking up toward his chest. He looked up at Weston, trying to read the expression on the man's face.

"Hitting the chair shouldn't have done that much damage. How long ago did this happen?" Weston asked, pointing to the bruises. His voice remained calm, but his black brows were drawn together and Sekani couldn't tell if it was from concentration, or concern.

The deinonychus searched his limited vocabulary, trying to figure out what words to use. He grunted, unable to come up with anything.

Tristan was still gasping. "I can't—I can't." He choked. "I can't breathe…deep…like you said. Hurts…too much."

"Just take it slow. Also, do me a favor and hold still." Weston said. He pressed his fingers against the young man's bruised side.

"Owwww!"

"Well you're finding enough breath to howl like a Dire Wolf." Weston groused. He seemed to have no mercy as he moved his hands along Tristan's bruised ribcage, prodding and poking. "Now tell me when and how this happened."

"Um…" Was all Tristan managed to say. His willpower was draining rapidly. This guy acted like he had the skills of a Healer and knew what he was doing. At least he really hoped so. The man could be just torturing him a little for a bit of revenge, too—revenge for waking him up in the middle of the night and giving him trouble.

"Listen, you should've sought out help a lot sooner." Weston went on, since he wasn't getting an answer out of Tristan. "The swelling could've been kept down and then it wouldn't be as difficult for me to do this, not to mention you wouldn't be hurting quite this bad as well." He frowned as he plucked a small shard of glass from Tristan's shirt and held it up. "Man, is that a piece of _glass_? What have you been involved in?"

Kiko carefully took it from Weston and dropped it into a nearby waste bin.

"You trying to…kill…me?" Tristan said through clenched teeth.

Weston sighed as he pulled the boy's tattered shirt back down. "Really? Can't you tell by now that I'm trying to help you? I think I know why you came here, looking for Saoirse's services, but you should've just went on over to the infirmary instead."

"If I had wanted…to go there…I would've." Tristan argued.

"Great eruptions! You're difficult." Weston grumbled. "Now listen closely. Your raptor friend here—what was his name—Sekani, that's right. Sekani and I are going to help you back up and from this point forward you do exactly what I say and _no_ _more arguing_, understand?"

"I—I—" Tristan stammered.

"Good. I'm glad we have that understanding." Weston said quickly. "Because Kiko and I have an understanding too. One snap of my fingers and he knows that I want him to show you what a nice hard, _sharp_, beak he has. Yup. He's got one powerful peck."

"Just don't take me to…the infirmary." Tristan said, taking a risk. "That's all I ask."

"Fine. I won't, but you have to put up with my services instead…and my price."

"And what's that?"

"I've got plenty of time to decide." Weston replied, smirking slightly.

"But—"

"No arguing, remember?" Weston interrupted. "Now quit talking and save your breath before you pass out and make things really difficult for me." He hooked a hand under Tristan's shoulder and motioned for Sekani to do the same.

"I can manage…on my own." Tristan said, stubbornly trying to resist.

"Nope." Weston replied. "At this point, if you fall again, you could damage yourself seriously. Now shut up. I don't want to hear another word out of you unless I ask you a question."

Weston nodded toward the deinonychus, signaling that he was ready. "Slow. _Very _slow." He said. Together they lifted and Tristan struggled to make his legs work. Once they got him to his feet, Tristan heard the rush of wind again and this time there wasn't just black speckles dancing before his eyes. A wall of solid darkness greeted him.

Weston seemed prepared for this and quickly threw his other arm out, catching Tristan as he slumped forward. Sekani grunted in surprise, and helped to hold the unconscious teenager up.

Weston groaned in frustration as he and Kiko exchanged knowing glances, accepting the fact that neither of them were going to get much more sleep that night, if any at all.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Starr family was not accustomed to being woken in the middle of the night by pounding on the door to their home. Celesta and Tiana heard it first, probably because they were half expecting it considering the earlier events of the evening, though they had hoped it wouldn't happen. They realized that Brutus had been very angry with Tristan, but they didn't expect him to actually follow through with his threat of sending him to the city officials.

After leaving the party, Tiana ranted all the way home about what had happened. She couldn't seem to accept the idea that Tristan was truly harboring a saurian egg and was angry that he'd been accused of it. She hung onto Tristan's words to Brutus when he'd said, "This is a big misunderstanding." She figured that he didn't explain himself because so much was going on at the moment and he probably froze up in fear. Celesta merely listened to her sister rattling on and on about the events of the evening. She kept quiet about the egg rather than telling Tiana about it just yet, hoping that Tristan would return home later that night and do so himself.

Before they arrived home, Tiana and Celesta agreed to avoid telling their mother about the disaster at the party in order to allow Tristan the chance to explain it to her first. When they arrived home, they were pleased to discover that their mother was preoccupied with prepping food in the restaurant kitchen for the next day. That would make things easier. Sarilla was an excellent chef and very focused when it came to cooking so they briefly popped in to let her know that they were home.

Sarilla barely looked up from her cooking project. When Cedric was away helping with shipping companies, she often holed up in the kitchen, working on coming up with new culinary creations as a means of distracting herself from missing her husband.

"We're back." Tiana announced. "And we're going to bed."

"Very nice." Sarilla murmured as she scraped a pile of fresh chopped leeks into a simmering pot.

"Um…mother?" Celesta said. "It's pretty late. Don't you want to get some sleep too?"

Sarilla used the back of her hand to swipe away a strand of dark hair from her face. "I will in a little while. I have a few more things to do here."

The girls exchanged glances. It looked like their mother was nowhere near being finished.

"You need us to clean up afterwards?" Celesta offered.

"Oh no. You two scoot on out of here and off to bed. You know I love having the kitchen all to myself at night." Sarilla replied as she crushed some cloves of garlic against the bamboo cutting board with her chopping knife. "Did you enjoy the party?"

Celesta twisted her hands together uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. "Well, um—"

"Yes." Tiana cut in. "But now we're tired from all that dancing and excitement." She grabbed her sister's arm and steered her toward the doorway. "See you later, Mother. Enjoy your cooking project. It smells delicious. Just make sure you don't stay up all night like you've been known to do before." She teased.

They were almost to the door when Sarilla replied. "Alright then, I look forward to hearing all about the party tomorrow. Where's your brother?"

The girls paused. "Oh…he's around somewhere. You know how independent he is anymore." Tiana replied. "Goodnight, Mother!" She tugged Celesta along with her out of the kitchen.

Later that night when the pounding on the door began, neither of the girls wanted to answer the door so they waited until they heard the sounds of their mother making her way through the house toward the door. Only then did they crawl out of bed and tiptoe out to see what was going on. They held back though, close enough to hear, but being careful to stay hidden. They both knew that Tristan still had not returned and neither had Sekani.

Sarilla opened the door to see a man and a woman dressed in the garb of the city officials standing there along with two stygimoloch street guards.

"Good evening." The man said, holding up his lantern to see who had opened the door, making sure he'd found the right household. "Is this the Starr residence?"

"Yes, sir." Sarilla rubbed her eyes, sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so." The man returned. His dark, Asian eyes reflected concern.

The woman standing next to him had cocoa hued skin and many small black braids spilled out from under her cap and down to her shoulders. Both of the city officials looked middle aged and in good health. "You have a son, an eighteen year old, by the name of Tristan, correct?" The woman said.

"I do." Sarilla replied, suddenly looking much more awake now.

"Is he home?"

Sarilla looked confused. "Well he should be. Excuse me just a moment." She stepped back and turned her head. "Tristan!" She called.

The man and woman exchanged glances while they waited and the pair of stygimoloch sniffed the air and swished their tails impatiently.

Instead of Tristan emerging from the shadowed hall, Tiana and Celesta came forward, both in their nightgowns with shawls pulled over their shoulders, and wearing wide eyed expressions.

"He isn't here." Tiana said.

"What?" Sarilla replied. "This had better not be some sort of prank, because it isn't funny. Now where is he?"

"It's not a prank and we don't know." Tiana explained, huffily.

Sarilla turned back to the small group waiting at her door. "What's happened? Do you know where my son is?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that." The man said, gravely.

Sarilla ushered them in as well as the stygimoloch street guards. "Come on in and have a seat at the table here while you tell me what's going on. I'll get some tea and refreshments." She said as she pulled out chairs for the guests.

"Thank you, but don't worry about trying to rustle up food or drink at this late hour." The man said, sensing the nervousness of the family. He smiled, trying to keep the atmosphere calm. "Let me introduce us. My name is Wang Qiang Bo. You can just call me Bo." He gestured toward the woman. "This is Lesedi." Then he waved a hand toward the stygimoloches who stood side by side, turning their heads every which way, taking in their new surroundings through curious eyes. "And this is Farsight and Stomper."

After the greetings were exchanged, Bo explained why they had come. "There was a complaint against your son earlier this evening. Brutus Harper told these street guards that Tristan had displayed violence by starting a fight with another young man at his party. In so doing some of his goods were destroyed. It's a minor accusation and not really uncommon seeing as young men and dinosaurs both sometimes feel the need to settle differences in such a manner. If this was the only problem we'd merely suggest that you have a good talk with your son and keep him busy in order to stay out of trouble. The guards here would've merely ushered your son home and that alone should've been enough shame to straighten up his attitude."

Sarilla turned to her daughters. "Why didn't you tell me this happened?"

"We thought Tristan would be returning home and he could tell you. It was _his_ mess to explain." Tiana said defensively.

Bo took a deep breath, looking as if he really didn't want to share the rest of what he had to say. "But there's more."

Celesta suddenly stood. "This sounds like it could take awhile. I'll bring up a tea tray from the restaurant kitchen." She offered.

Sarilla nodded. "Thank you dear. That would be good."

Celesta quietly slipped away, but turned into Tristan's bedroom first. She glanced behind her, making sure Tiana was not following. As she expected, Tiana stayed in the kitchen, listening to every word closely. She didn't want to miss anything. Celesta went strait to the corner where Tristan kept the backpack which held the egg. Carefully, she lifted it and toted it down the stairway which led down to the restaurant.

Where could she hide this where no one would suspect to look? She glanced all about her until finally, feeling guilty, she placed the backpack underneath the stairs where it was hidden from view in the shadows. After warming up some tea in the restaurant kitchen, she placed the kettle and cups on a tray and tiptoed back up the stairs and into the house again.

When Celesta returned to the kitchen, she was disappointed that she'd missed some of the conversation, but hoped that Tiana would fill her in on it later.

"So he was hurt, but still somehow escaped?" Sarilla was saying.

Farsight bobbed her head and said something in her own saurian language.

Lesedi listened to the dinosaur intently, then interpreted. "She said he refused the infirmary."

Sarilla nodded slowly. "That's my Tristan, my stubborn son. I hope he is alright."

Farsight chattered and Lesedi interpreted again. "Well he wasn't hurt too badly, because he got away."

"Just how _did_ he get away?" Sarilla wanted to know.

The two stygimolochs conversed back and forth for a moment and Lesedi leaned forward as she listened. After the chatter quieted down she turned to the others.

"Well, I think I understood most of that. They heard a window breaking in a nearby shop. Thinking that your son would stay put, they left him momentarily while they went to go check it out. They never found who broke the window, but when they returned, Tristan was gone. They had only been away for a few minutes so it's almost like it was a set up, like someone was watching and pounced on the opportunity to help him get away."

Bo nodded in agreement. "Yes. The timing of that broken window was too perfect to not be tied to his escape. Someone for sure was trying to help him."

Celesta placed the tray on the table and silently handed out cups to everyone, then nudged her sister to pour the tea, not trusting her trembling hands to do the job properly.

Tiana poured the tea, having done it thousands of times before, never sloshing one drop even though she was clearly distracted with the conversation going on around her.

The guests nodded and thanked her.

Celesta offered a few squash blossoms to the stygimoloches who happily gobbled them up.

Sarilla wrung her hands together in agitation. "I just don't understand. Why would someone accuse him of secretly harboring an egg that belongs in a hatchery? It just doesn't make sense. He never mentioned anything about an egg. But then again if it wasn't true, why did he try to get away and hide?"

"If he really was trying to hide it, do you think he'd tell you?" Lesedi said gently.

Sarilla wiped away a tear. "I would like to say yes, but I don't know that he would. He's been so distant lately. Are there any evidences that would prove that our son is hiding an egg?" she asked.

"According to Brutus Harper, your son didn't deny it when directly asked to defend himself." Bo explained. "And his actions after that with these two guards didn't exactly help to clear himself either."

"But there are other factors to consider." Tiana suddenly said, standing up and looking angry. "He'd just been through an awful fight. Consider the fact that he was upset and probably confused and couldn't think straight. After all, someone had suddenly accused him of being an egg thief and secretly harboring it as if he meant harm toward it!" The girl's voice rose with indignation. "Someone was jumping to conclusions, thinking the worst instead of the best."

"Tiana, calm down." Sarilla urged.

Tiana lowered her voice, but she had more to say. "Do you know why he got into that fight to begin with?" She glared at the city officials and the street guards. "You all are so obsessed with this stupid egg thief accusation that you aren't even considering the other factors."

Sarilla tried to hush her daughter, but Bo refrained her. "It's alright. Let her speak."

Tiana lifted her chin determinedly. "I'll tell you why he got into a fight. Some Skybax Rider that apparently was acquainted with him from Canyon City, gave him a hard time about failing the Beginner rank training. Yes, it's true that my brother did fail, but it wasn't because of stupidity, lack of effort, or fear. He worked long and hard up until the last, building dreams and building a wonderful bond with a skybax. But you know what happened? His skybax partner _died_. That's why he failed. He didn't _have_ a partner to advance with to the Apprentice rank after that. It was a terrible loss and it wasn't his fault." Tears of frustration gleamed in her eyes, but Tiana was determined not to let them fall. She plunged on.

"That Rider from Canyon City said nasty things to Tristan and I'm not sure that anyone would be able to take that kind of verbal abuse without losing it, considering the circumstances. So yes, it's true that Tristan started the physical part of the fight, but the Rider in all reality was the one who started it with his mean comments. Even if he does have something against Tristan, I think it's just downright cruel to treat him that way after the horrible loss he went through and is still trying to deal with." Tiana plunked down into a chair and crossed her arms, signifying that she was finished with her spiel.

Lesedi shook her head. "We had no idea." She said. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"I don't know why then he was accused of keeping an egg from its rightful place in a hatchery." Bo added. "But the accusation still remains and has to be investigated."

"Has anyone ever _seen_ him with the egg?" Tiana piped up again. "I mean, if he had the reputation of one of those Dolphin Bay Drifters I could understand the suspicion. But _come on_. My brother just before all this was a trainee to be a noble _Rider_!"

Celesta dropped her gaze, suddenly overly interested in the pattern of the worn hardwood floor.

Bo sighed. "I really wish I could tell you no, but someone did say they saw the egg."

Tiana's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

Brutus Harper's daughter, Poppy. When he filed the complaint and we were asking him for details, he mentioned a girl who accused him of being the egg thief. The girl happened to be his daughter's friend, but she hadn't seen the egg herself. She was only going off of what Poppy had told her. Apparently Poppy had seen it in Tristan's backpack one day and when she'd asked him about it, he indicated that he was bringing it to the Sauropolis Saurian Nursery. I guess Poppy's friend checked into it and found out that no new orphans of any kind had been brought in for the past six weeks. So the question remains: where is the egg? It was seen by someone, it was real, Tristan had it in his possession, but nothing about it has been reported. In that egg is the delicate life of some small saurian and our concern is to get it into a Hatchery where professionals who have trained to handle orphaned eggs can properly take care of it."

Tiana looked at a loss of what to say now. All her spit and fire she'd displayed in defense of her brother seemed all for naught.

Sarilla turned to her daughters with a confused look on her face. "You both were at the party and didn't tell me about the fight. Why?"

Tiana frowned. "As I mentioned before, we were waiting for him to come tell you about it himself."

"But you heard him be accused of harboring an egg and you weren't going to tell me that?"

"At that point I figured it wasn't true." Tiana argued. "I just needed time to process things myself. I was shocked to hear about it too."

Bo, taking note of the look of loss on the girl's face, turned his attention back to the Sarilla. "Do you have any idea why your son would be doing this, keeping and egg away from the Hatchery? Does he not know the dangers involved for that saurian's life?"

Sarilla finally broke into tears. "No. I don't know. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Your son must be very disturbed about the loss he's been dealing with so I imagine that might have something to do with this unusual behavior." Lesedi said gently. "However, he's displayed enough actions that are out of line that even if he comes up with a descent explanation for all of this, it's more than likely that the city council will choose to keep a close eye on him for awhile and get him involved in a correction program."

Sarilla winced at the words, 'correction program.' All it meant was that Tristan would be involved in special tutoring and watched closely by a trusted dinosaur until he'd proved that he'd learned from his past mistakes and the council agreed that he wouldn't need the 'guard' any longer. The problem was the reputation he'd have to work hard to overcome, and no parent wanted to ever have to mention the fact to anyone that their son was in the 'correction program' and it was inevitable that the subject would come up at some time or another.

"Maybe it's all a just big mistake and such measures won't have to be taken." Sarilla said.

"I wish I could assure you of that." Bo replied. "But in the meantime, your son knows what he's been accused of and if he were completely innocent, he should know that there would be no need to try and escape and then hide."

"Maybe he's just confused and rattled with everything that happened and needs time to sort out his thoughts." Tiana suggested.

"Then we'll give him until mid-day tomorrow to show up. That should be enough time, no?" Bo said.

Sarilla sighed. "Yes. More than enough."

"In the meantime, we've got to find that egg and make sure it's in the good hands of someone that knows how to take care of it properly."

Tiana's temper flared again. "I'm sure Tristan wouldn't have it if he didn't know what to do with it. He's not mean."

"But he could be uneducated." Lesedi pointed out.

"No!" Tiana argued.

"Has he ever been involved in an apprenticeship at a Hatchery?" Lesedi said, raising and eyebrow.

Tiana frowned. "Well no, but I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

"Up until now did _you _know he had the egg in his possession?" Lesedi pressed.

"No." Tiana replied with less confidence in her tone this time.

Celesta felt relieved that she'd kept her mouth shut the whole time and hadn't been asked a direct question like that. Tristan had confided more details to her and she understood his reasoning to keep the egg a secret and not let it go to a Hatchery, but she knew that no one else would understand those reasons—especially now after some apparently stupid mistakes Tristan had just made.

"Now the other matter we've got to try and figure out is who had a hand in helping Tristan escape from the guards." Bo glanced at the two girls.

"It certainly wasn't us." Tiana said and Celesta nodded in agreement. "We went straight home from the party." Tiana added.

Sarilla suddenly looked around the room, a startled look in her eyes. "Where is Sekani?"

"Who is Sekani?" Lesedi asked.

"The deinonychus member of our household." Sarilla replied. "Did he not return with you girls from the party?"

"No." Tiana said. "He went out quickly after Brutus made Tristan leave the party. We figured he would keep an eye on Tristan. He's always been like a guardian to all of us."

"So considering the fact that he's apparently missing too, he's probably the one who contributed to the busted shop window and Tristan's sudden disappearance." Bo said with a sigh.

"It certainly looks that way." Sarilla admitted. "Sekani is very close to my children and it doesn't surprise me that he would defend Tristan. His pack instincts are strong with our family."

Bo swallowed the last of his tea and stood. "I am so sorry we had to bother you so late in the night." He said. "The next step is to look for the egg. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will need to do a thorough search here if this has been your son's residence since he returned from Canyon City." The man said as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, sir. I understand." Sarilla replied, looking defeated. "I'll show you to his room. That's the most likely place it would be. Since he's kept this secret even from us he knows we would've come across it at some point if he'd stashed it anywhere else in the house. We usually leave his room alone." Sarilla explained, wearily.

"I understand. We'll search there right away." Bo replied. Once again, I apologize for this inconvenience." He tipped his hat respectfully toward Sarilla.

Celesta swallowed hard, glad she'd made that quick decision to transport the egg somewhere else for the time being, but she was going to have to figure out where Tristan was hiding and try to get the egg to him as soon as possible.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Waking up was not a pleasant experience.

As soon as Tristan stirred, he was greeted by the harsh sound of a dimorphodon's screeching.

"Awake! Awake!"

"Great. I was hoping he'd stay out long enough for me to finish." Someone said grumpily.

That's when Tristan felt the stabs of pain shooting through his right palm.

"Agggh! What is going on?" He sat up quickly and immediately regretted it, feeling as if his chest was suddenly gored by a stegosaurus spike. It literally took his breath away and he fell back against the pillows. Pillows? A bed? Where was he?

Oh no. Not the infirmary. Suddenly, everything came back to him, all the memories of what happened slamming into his mind like a blow on the head; the party, the fight, the accusations, getting beaten to a pulp, the street guards, escaping, seeking out Saoirse whom he could trust, and finding out that he was at the mercy of a total stranger instead.

"Breathe slowly and don't gasp. It only makes it hurt worse. There, that's it, you're getting it. Now hold still so I can get this finished."

Wait a minute. That deep and authoritative voice sounded way too familiar.

"Sekani, here, you hold him down just in case he tries to bolt again before I'm finished." The man said and Tristan felt the dinosaur place a clawed hand on his shoulder.

Tristan searched his foggy mind for the name to match the voice. Weston—that was the guy's name. Yeah, now he remembered—commanding tone and all, but what made him think _he_ was in charge? There was no way he was in command over the whole infirmary.

Tristan managed to open one eye and squinted in the bright lights shining down on him. It took a moment for his vision to adjust and when it did, he realized that the light was coming from about half a dozen lanterns hanging from the rafters above him. Rafters? Okay, this looked a little too rustic for the pristine Sauropolis Infirmary.

He flinched. Ouch. There were those pricks again in his right hand. He looked down, trying to get his eyes to focus. His left eye was almost swollen shut and his other eye seemed to be having a hard time focusing without the help of the other.

Weston was sitting on a chair next to the bed, his curly black head bent over in concentration. He had a firm grip on Tristan's outstretched wrist and was using what looked like some kind of metal tweezers to dig into Tristan's palm. Perched on the arm of the chair was Kiko, holding a small bowl in his beak. Tristan felt another painful prick and he saw Weston lifting the tweezers and dropping something too tiny to see into the bowl. The tips of the tweezers were covered in blood.

"What are you doing to me?" Tristan said through clenched teeth. "Where am I?"

Weston threw a weary glance over at Tristan. "What do you think it looks like I'm doing? I'm trying to get all those tiny pieces of glass out of your hands. Oh, and please do us all a favor and don't panic again." He sighed heavily and leaned back for a moment, stretching his shoulders and neck. His eyes looked bloodshot.

"But where am I?" Tristan asked again as he started to lift his hand to try and get a look at it.

Weston leaned forward again and quickly grabbed his wrist. "You're not at the infirmary, if that's what you're so worried about." He snapped. "You're still at Saoirse's house. Now keep still so I can get this finished."

Tristan obeyed this time. The man seemed to be gruff, but was still going out of his way to help, so Tristan didn't want to upset him further. Then he remembered Weston's words from earlier that night. "_The bartering price is going to be higher….a lot higher._" The memory of those words didn't settle well in his stomach and he wondered just how much debt had stacked up against him already.

He lifted his other hand to see that it was wrapped in clean bandages and feeling a lot better than the one that the man was still working on. Then he realized that his clothes were gone other than his underwear and his torso was wrapped snugly in a soft, linen, binding. Even though it was hard to keep his eyes open, Tristan watched as Weston worked on his hand, finishing up with a needle and thread, sewing up the gashes in his palm. He applied a soothing herbal ointment to the wound before wrapping it in the clean bandage that Kiko held out to him.

"Did Saoirse teach you all this?" Tristan finally asked, deciding it was safe to talk since the man appeared to be finished.

Weston yawned noisily and set to cleaning up the supplies. "A lot of it. However, I've been studying to be a Healer since I was thirteen, starting at my home in the village in Bent Root and that was twelve years ago. Then I moved here to get some training from my cousin and then a part time position at the Sauropolis Infirmary."

"Wow." Tristan mumbled. "And I thought a year in Canyon City was a lot of time to train."

Weston gave him a sideways glance as he put some tools away in a drawer of a nearby rolling cart. "Yeah, but I hear that the first year can be pretty intense. I knew a Healer once that worked at Canyon City and she said that they tried to keep a Healer on duty at all hours, considering that there always seemed to be over ambitious cadets trying out stunts which frequently landed them in the infirmary. Of course, I'm just rambling now. What would _you_ know about it anyway?"

Tristan swallowed hard. "More than you'd think." He mumbled again, wondering why he'd even mentioned Canyon City in the first place. It was like his thoughts couldn't keep from drifting right out of his tired mouth.

"Really now?" Weston filled a small wooden cup with water from a nearby hand pump with a wash basin beneath it. "I can't imagine what kind of flight stunt gone wrong would give you two nasty black eyes, a busted lip, broken ribs, and your hands full of glass. Also, most cadets wear a uniform of some sort when flying, not a set of nice formal clothes. And a deinonychus escorted you here instead of a skybax partner. I wonder what business you have here in Sauropolis, so far away from Canyon City?" His last words fairly dripped with sarcasm.

Tristan looked away. "You sure are prying a lot."

Weston set the cup down on the countertop, opened one of the cabinet doors, and thumbed through a row of small dark bottles. "I kind of have a right, considering the circumstances. And I wouldn't have to pry if you'd just open up and tell me what's going on. I'd really like to know why you ended up on Saoirse's doorstep in the middle of the night, _obviously_ trying to hide from someone. And I want to know more details about what happened to you. In the condition you were in, I'm surprised you made it here and carried on a fully coherent conversation with me before you finally dropped. Your stubbornness is _almost_ impressive."

Tristan closed his eyes for a moment. He really was going to have to tell the guy something, but how much? He opened his eyes again and slowly tried to raise himself into a sitting position. He was already partially propped up with pillows so this made the process easier. Even so, his body immediately complained so he decided to just stay put at the moment. Knowing that Weston was waiting for some kind of explanation, he finally gathered the courage to speak. "It was a fight…I thought I could win, but…" He looked away in embarrassment.

Weston found the bottle he wanted and closed the cabinet door. "Tell me something I _don't_ know."

"Well it's hard to know where to start." Tristan complained.

"Then I'll help you." Weston said curtly. "Considering the extent of your injuries I've been trying to decide if your assailant was human or saurian."

"Human." Tristan admitted in a small voice.

"Great eruptions! He must've been a _beast_ of a man then." Weston shook the contents of the bottle before opening it and pouring a small amount of the liquid into the cup of water.

"Pun intended?" Tristan grumbled.

"Yes." Weston replied emphatically, giving the cup a swirling motion to mix the contents.

"Well, he just happened to know how to fight really well." Tristan muttered.

Weston raised an eyebrow. "Dolphin Bay Drifter, by any chance? They're usually the ones who take the most interest in cultivating fighting skills."

Tristan shook his head. "No, actually not. He's a Skybax Rider, freshly graduated to the rank of Apprentice."

"Huh. That's interesting." Weston commented dryly. "I wonder what _you_ did then to make him mad enough to beat you up like that. It looks like he got a bit carried away and apparently he wanted to make sure you would hurt for awhile. Again, a more common trait for a Drifter than for a typical citizen of Dinotopia."

"Huh. But Drifters don't get away with becoming Skybax Riders." Tristan said, his tone bitter. He chose to cover the first part of the man's question with another comment of his own. "You sure seem to know a lot about Drifters."

Weston simply ignored the remark and held out the small cup of water now amber tinged since he'd mixed the herbal liquid into it. "Drink up."

Tristan managed to prop himself up on one elbow and take the cup from Weston. He frowned down at the liquid. It smelled strange, and nothing like he'd ever remembered having come across when he'd worked part time in the infirmary back at Canyon City.

As if reading his thoughts, Weston rolled his eyes. "Just get it over with. You'll be thanking me for it later."

Tristan still hesitated. "I don't recognize it."

"And why would you?" Weston replied. "I'm the Healer here. Now drink it."

Tristan obeyed and gulped down the contents of the glass.

It was awful. Bitter. Nasty. He almost gagged.

Weston laughed.

Kiko, who was perched on the edge of the countertop, bobbed his head and made a sound which sounded like a good imitation of Weston's laughter.

"Healer's don't believe in trying to make their _potions_ taste good, do they?" Tristan said wearily as he wiped at his mouth.

"I guess not." Weston replied. "Maybe it's too much fun seeing the reaction of the patients."

"Ugh. Why does my mouth feel so weird? What did you give me?" Tristan complained.

Weston continued to grin. "Just a potent mix that Saoirse and I came up with. It's very effective."

"Huh? And you won't tell me what it's called?"

Weston snickered. "Nope. But don't worry, I'm not poisoning you or anything. It's just a really good pain killer."

Tristan glared at the other guy, not seeing the humor in it. "For your information, I worked at an infirmary for awhile and my main job was processing herbs. I don't recognize the smell of this stuff, much less the taste."

"Ah. Well, you wouldn't just go around tasting all the remedies now, would you?" Although he was no longer laughing, Weston's deep blue eyes twinkled with mirth.

"No, but I've had my share of pain killers." Tristan grumbled. "Training took a rough turn once."

"Hmmm." Weston grinned. "Training?"

Tristan couldn't figure out why he'd let that slip out. He quickly tried to change the subject. "I need to be up and out of here." He tried to move again and winced. He pointed to the binding around his middle. "So what's this for?"

Weston took the empty cup from him. "It's holding a poultice in place to ease the swelling and bruising. Once the poultice dries out, you can take it off. You've got broken ribs—two of them and a couple bruised—a common result from a fight. You're going to need to take it easy for the next few days. I know you're going to want to be up and around as soon as you can, but now is not the time to try and be Mr. tough guy."

"Hmmf." Tristan huffed, then tapped the binding. "Comfrey poultice…and maybe some arnica…soothing." He closed his eyes and tried to sort out his thoughts which were tangling at an alarming rate.

"Well, you seem to know a few things." Weston commented as he pumped fresh water into the basin.

"Just a little." Tristan mumbled. He was beginning to feel strange, but in a good way, relaxed and sleepy.

"Here. You can hold this over your eyes. It will help with the swelling."

Tristan opened his eyes to see Weston holding out a cold wet cloth.

"Thanks." He murmured. He took it and gingerly set it over his eyes.

"So tell me why a Skybax Rider beat you up." Weston said.

"It's a long story…really…really…long."

"How about a shortened version then? And why do you act like you're hiding from something?"

"Because I am." Tristan felt so drowsy now that it was getting hard to focus on what was going on around him. "After the fight, I was accused of being a Drifter and harboring an orphaned egg and withholding it from a Hatchery. Sekani helped me escape from the street guards."

Weston plopped down into the chair and passed a hand over his eyes. "I really don't want to know the answer to this next question, but if I don't ask it'll probably be impossible for me to catch a few precious hours of sleep before I have to go to work in the morning." He paused as if he were gathering the courage to ask the next question. "Okay. Here goes. Is that accusation accurate?"

Tristan swallowed hard before answering. "Sort of, but I'm not a Drifter."

Weston looked as if he suddenly felt a little ill himself. His shoulders sagged and his indigo eyes took on a glassy look while he absentmindedly rubbed at the stubble on his face. "So are you a dinosaur egg thief?"

"No. Not dinosaur egg. Skybax egg. I'm not a thief."

Weston was pleased that his pain killing remedy seemed to be working well. This young man was so sleepy now that it was getting easy now for him to talk. Anything the guy said was bound to be the truth at this rate.

"Skybax partner entrusted it to me." Tristan continued to mumble. "It's orphaned. The mother…died." A pained look suddenly crossed his face and Weston realized that it was emotional and not physical this time.

"So why again are you hiding?" Weston said, a little gentler this time.

"People got the wrong idea about me and the egg. Dark Wing asked me to take care of it. Once it hatches I need the freedom to…to bring it to places that…people won't allow me to go. Could be a way to make peace. A Hatchery has too many rules."

Tristan opened a heavy eyelid and managed to glare at Weston. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. I don't even fully trust you."

"You're telling me because I demanded an explanation and because you're so tired that you don't have the reserve to hold back anymore. I deserve to know what's going on, especially since I've gone so far out of my way to help you out."

"Hmmm." Tristan murmured. "You gave me something strong. Trying to put me out, are you?"

"For your own good." Weston replied. "Now, one more question. Where is this egg and is anyone taking care of it?"

"That's two questions."

"Whatever. Answer them."

"The egg is safe. Someone I trust is looking after it. Eggs can be safe outside of a Hatchery, you know."

Weston rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I know. Also, I want to know what your real name is."

Tristan opened one eye. "Huh? That's another question." He accused.

"No. It's not. It's a demand. I know the name you gave me earlier wasn't your real one."

"Huh?" Tristan asked, almost dropping the washcloth he'd been holding over his face.

Weston sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. His 'potion' was working very well and a little quicker than he wanted. "_Your name._" He said, loudly.

Tristan jerked, and this time the washcloth slipped out of his fingers and landed on the pillow next to his head. "It's Tristan Starr." He mumbled. "You don't have to yell at me."

Weston leaned back in his chair and sat quietly for a moment, gazing into space and absentmindedly rubbing his chin. "Starr." He mumbled. "Tristan Starr." He frowned and looked as if he were about to say something more, but decided against it.

Kiko flew over to Weston and perched on his shoulder, seeming to try and get his attention. Weston sighed deeply and stood up. "Well, Tristan, that's a really serious offense, being called an egg thief. No wonder you're hiding. However, before I start making any harsh judgments, I'll give you a chance and let you fully explain yourself in more detail. But for now, I'm going to bed. It's been an incredibly long night and we could all use some sleep."

Kiko bobbed his head in agreement.

Without another word, Weston and Kiko left the room.

Tristan opened one eye and he and Sekani just looked at each other in silence for a moment before Sekani also headed for the door.

"Wait." Tristan said. "Where are you going?" His words were slurring together he was so sleepy now.

The deinonychus merely grunted in response.

"Stay with me. Guard me. Don't…let anyone…find…me."

Sekani waited a moment longer until Tristan was fully out. Then he left the room and managed to slip out of the cottage quietly.

When Tristan awoke again he could see that there was light leaking from around the drapes pulled over the window, but there was no way to tell what time of day it was.

He sat up slowly, fighting his way past the soreness settled around his injuries. Whatever pain medicine he'd been given seemed to have worn off completely. He eased his way to the side of the bed, learning that if he breathed shallow, the pain in his ribs was less intense. It was tiresome when every breath caused discomfort.

He scanned the room, discovering that he was alone. Sekani must have gone on home. Hopefully the dinosaur would assure the family that he was safe, but wouldn't give away his whereabouts just yet. He decided to hunt for his clothes, get dressed, and try to figure out how to disguise himself so no one would recognize him on the streets as he made his way home.

He shuffled over to the window and pulled the drapes aside, shielding his eyes at first until they adjusted to the daylight. The window seemed to be facing a back alley and the stone wall of another building rose up across from the window. A few brave strands of ivy snaked up the wall, reaching for the sunlight above.

Now that the drapes were open, Tristan could see the room a little better. It appeared to be a small clinic with cabinets lining one wall, a wash basin, mirror, and water pump, countertops, two chairs, and a small cart with wheels, equipped with drawers and a small table top. The only bed in the room was the one he had occupied.

He made his way over to the wash basin and glanced in the mirror. The image staring back nearly caused him to jump. Yikes. Maybe he didn't need a disguise after all. His face was nearly unrecognizable. Both eyes were swollen and bloodshot. Shades of black and purple circled his eyes and more bruises streaked downward, mixing with the ugly graze along his puffy cheekbone. His lips were puffy on one side with a visible cut and bruising around his mouth and jaw as well.

He pumped fresh water into the basin and splashed some of the water onto his face. Although it soothed the inflammation somewhat, it did nothing to improve his looks.

The door to the room creaked and Tristan turned to see the dimorphodon fluttering into the room. The creature landed on the countertop and using his beak, he nudged a small wooden cup, then looked up at Tristan. "Drink." He squawked.

Tristan stepped over and picked up the cup and sniffed. Ugh. It smelled like the same stuff Weston had made him drink earlier. It had eased the pain, but it had also made him fall asleep rapidly against his will. No, he wasn't going to take it this time. For now he needed to get out of here and find a way home to check on the egg. Celesta was probably taking care of it, but he felt anxious to see it himself since he hadn't been separated from it for this long since it had come into his possession.

He shook his head. "No thanks." He said. "Could you help me find my clothes though?"

The dimorphodon stomped his feet. "Drink." He repeated.

Tristan sank down onto the bed wearily. "No. I need to get on home. I promise I'll come back and settle with Weston for his services."

Kiko shook his head. "Stay."

"No, I really need to go. It's urgent, but like I said, I'll come back."

Kiko suddenly launched into the air and while flapping his wings furiously he pecked at Tristan's head.

"Hey! Ouch!" Tristan raised his hands to shoo away the creature, but the dimorphodon was quick and insistent, fluttering so fast that Tristan lost his balance trying to shoo him away and fell back against the pillows.

Kiko grabbed up the cup in his feet and hovered above Tristan. "Drink!" He shrieked.

Tristan snatched the cup away from the creature before the contents would spill, or worse, the whole cup slip from its claws and land against his already sore face.

He frowned up at the dimorphodon, squinting against the racket of leathery wings above him.

The dimorphodon continued to pester him relentlessly until he finally gave in and raised the cup to his lips, pretending to drink.

Kiko swooped down and using his beak, he suddenly pushed on the bottom of the cup, tipping it up.

Tristan sputtered as the foul tasting liquid rushed into his mouth. Now he was forced to either swallow or drown. He choked it down, then the cup slipped out of both his grasp and the dimorphodon's and it tumbled to the floor, bouncing and rolling with a clattering sound. He wrapped his arms around his middle as he struggled to recover from choking. "Confounded…creature!" He said between coughs while stabs of pain coursed through his chest.

While Tristan was preoccupied with trying to get through the coughing fit, Kiko flew over to the window and pulled the drapes closed again, casting the room back into shadow. Then he flew over to the door and once on the other side, he tugged on the handle with his strong beak until it closed behind him.

Tristan heard the scraping sound of a lock.

He staggered to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and grumbling angrily. "No, no, no, no. Don't you dare." He stumbled through the dimly lit room stubbing his toe on the rolling cart as he went, and finally reached the door, but when he pulled, it wouldn't budge.

Now why would Saoirse have a lock on the outside of the door to her clinic room?

"Stay!" He heard Kiko shriek from the other side of the door.

Still coughing from choking on the nasty liquid, Tristan raised a fist and beat on the door. "Open up!"

"No." Came the dimorphodon's muffled reply.

"Come on. Don't lock me in here."

"Sleep!" Kiko replied.

Tristan realized then that he wasn't going to be able to convince the dimorphodon to let him go. He would have to check the window next.

He turned around and focused his eyes on the window. He was alarmed at how rapidly his body seemed to be reacting to the stuff he'd swallowed. He could've sworn it was working faster than last night. Weston must've poured out a bigger dose, or didn't dilute it as much or something of that sort.

Wait a minute. He couldn't leave without his clothes.

He paused and scanned the room, but it was too dimly lit to see well. He squinted. There was a basket hamper sitting on the floor near the counter. Maybe they were in there.

He turned slightly and stepped on the cup he'd accidentally dropped a few minutes ago. It threw him off balance and he lurched forward and collided with the wheeled cart which rolled forward against his weight. He tried to hang on to the edge of the cart, but his hands slipped and he sprawled out on the floor instead. The cart rolled on ahead of him and crashed into the side of the bed.

He curled up and waited for the pain to pass. "Why?" He groaned softly. "Why does life have to be so…stinking…hard?"

He needed to get home and get to the skybax egg. Too much time had passed and he feared that Celesta wouldn't be able to keep it hidden from everyone. Now he was trapped in Saoirse's clinic, of all places, and had no idea when Weston and his cunning dimorphodon friend would let him go.

After a few minutes, he raised his head up and looked toward the window. It seemed too far away and at this point he was so aggravatingly sleepy that it seemed an impossible endeavor to reach it now.

He had first believed that Weston was going to help him, but now he wasn't so sure what was on the man's agenda. It appeared that he had become a prisoner, because only prisoners were kept behind locked doors.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Weston returned that evening, thoroughly exhausted since he'd gotten hardly any sleep that night, worked on patching up Tristan, and then put in a long day at the infirmary. The fresh market on the street was still open so he picked up some easy food: bread, fruit, and nuts. When the vendors recognized Weston's white jacket bearing the initials of the Sauropolis Infirmary, they nodded to him respectfully, handing him what he needed without expecting something immediately in exchange.

When he arrived at Saoirse's cottage, Kiko greeted him happily and perched on his shoulder.

"Kiko! So how was your day working on guard duty?" He teased, rubbing the creature just where he knew he liked it right behind his head.

Kiko closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the rub.

Weston soon discovered the locked door to the clinic room. "So our patient gave you a bit of trouble, huh?" He chuckled lightly. "I wondered if he would."

The dimorphodon bobbed his head. "Trouble." He repeated.

Weston unbolted the door and pushed it open. When he stepped inside and found Tristan out cold on the floor and saw the telltale signs of the cup on the floor as well and the rolling cart knocked askew against the bed, he burst into laughter.

"I see you did your job well." He said to Kiko. "Maybe _too_ well."

"Trouble." Kiko explained.

"Yeah. I'm sure he was." Weston grunted as he hefted the teenager back onto the bed. Tristan stirred only slightly, but didn't fully wake up.

After putting things back in place, Weston returned to the kitchen, stirred up the coals in the oven, put a teapot of water on to boil, sliced some bread and fruit, and finally plopped down into a chair to enjoy his simple supper.

Kiko perched on the table next to him, chomping happily on the fruit and nuts that Weston put in front of him.

After he finished his supper and tea, Weston arranged some of the remaining food onto a tray and placed a fresh cup of tea next to it. "Well, we'd better go feed our patient." He said to Kiko. "He'll be waking up any time now and after not eating all day, he's going to have the cranky appetite of a carnivore."

"Trouble." Kiko squawked as he followed Weston.

"Yeah. I know."

After setting down the tray of food onto the wheeled cart, Weston shook Tristan's shoulder. "Time to wake up, sleepy head." He said loudly.

"Wake! Wake!" Kiko added, dancing on the pillow next to Tristan's head.

Tristan stirred. "Mmmff." He mumbled and finally managed to open one of his eyes. As soon as he recognized the tall young man with deep blue eyes and curly black hair, an unhappy look crossed his face. "You."

"Yup. It's me."

"You drugged me. Isn't there some other kind of pain killer you could've given me that wouldn't knock me out entirely?"

Weston tried to act serious, but a telltale grin twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Sure there was, but I had to make sure you would stay put while I was gone. First of all, you needed the rest; second of all, I couldn't have you up and out on the loose, getting into more trouble and getting _me_ into trouble."

Tristan frowned as his remembered how the man had pried information out of him when he was too tired to resist. However, it appeared that Weston was in no hurry to turn him in to the city officials.

He sat up and Kiko fluttered over to the end of the bed and perched on the footboard. Tristan gave the creature a wary look, then shifted his attention over to Weston who was pushing the cart over to the bed.

"I do need to get back home." Tristan said cautiously. "My family will be wondering what happened to me and I've got that egg to look after."

Weston pulled up a chair and parked it close by. "You're deinonychus friend disappeared, so I'm assuming he went home to reassure your family that you were in good hands. I don't know what details he'll give to your family. Now as for the egg, does anyone else know about it that could look after it?"

"Celesta knows what to do for it, but I'd rather be the one looking after it. I'm supposed to be its guardian."

Weston plopped down into the chair. "And who is Celesta?"

"She's my sister. She was the only other person that knew about the egg." A worried look crossed Tristan's face. "Of course, now that everything came out in the open at the party, a whole lot more people know about it too. And Tiana has probably grilled Celesta about it and finally weaseled the information out of her. I'm hoping Mother doesn't know about it yet. She'll have the egg sent off for sure."

"And who is Tiana?"

"She's my other sister."

"Ah. So it sounds like you trust only one sister and no one else in the family. Sounds like your relationship with your family is a bit unstable. Of course, I'm assuming quite a bit. You haven't mentioned a father."

"He's gone right now on a trip with a shipping company." Tristan mumbled, disliking Weston's comment.

"Shipping company?"

"Yes.

Weston opened his mouth about to say something more, but hesitated. Instead he turned and gestured toward the food in the tray. "Why don't you eat some supper? I know it isn't the fine stuff you get every day at the restaurant, but I decided to pick up some simple food because I'm really tired this evening for _some reason_."

Tristan looked down at the arrangement of bread, nuts, fruit, and the steaming cup of tea. His stomach twisted in hunger. "It looks fantastic to me. Thank you." He made a move to climb out of the bed, but Kiko suddenly squawked from his perch on the footboard. "Stay!" The dimorphodon commanded.

Tristan looked over at the creature and frowned, then looked back at Weston.

Weston merely nodded. "He's right. Just stay and eat where you are. That's why I put it all on a tray and brought it in here."

Tristan tore into the bread, but still eyed Weston warily. "So when are you going to let me leave? I don't like this locked door business."

Weston crossed his arms. "It depends on how well you cooperate. I'm afraid if I let you go to soon, you would just get right back into trouble. If you don't take care of those ribs you'll just end up in the infirmary after all where they'll ask you questions that you won't want to answer. Besides, I don't want you on the loose just yet because if you did get caught and taken to the city officials, you may not only blow your cover, but mine too, since I've harbored you instead of turning you in."

"Makes sense, I guess." Tristan muttered unhappily as he glanced back at the dimorphodon again who seemed content to be perched on the foot board, preening his wings and foot claws.

"So what am I supposed to do here while you two hold me prisoner?" Tristan asked, turning back to Weston again.

"Well, first of all, you can tell me your story. I think I deserve to know everything, considering the circumstances. Next, we can discuss the matter of payment." Weston added casually. "You're running up quite a bill."

Tristan suddenly stopped chewing. "I think I just lost my appetite."

"Look. I'm sheltering someone who's wanted for the thievery of an orphaned egg that's legally supposed to remain in a Hatchery until it hatches. That's a pretty serious offence. My own reputation is at stake here, you know." Weston said, frowning slightly.

"I guess you've got a point." Tristan said sheepishly.

"Are you sure Saoirse would've done everything I've done for you?" Weston said. "She _is_ my cousin and I probably know her better than you."

"Well, if you know her that well then I don't even have to assure you that she would." Tristan said pointedly.

"Okay, okay, you're right there." Weston grumbled. "Saoirse is a one of a kind. She always did enjoy a good adventure and has been known to bend the rules. I should've guessed that you two would be friends."

Tristan nodded. "That's right."

"How did you two end up meeting anyway?"

"It was a long time ago."

"I didn't ask _when_, I asked _how_."

"Fine then. So I'll tell you the story."

Weston leaned back in satisfaction.

Tristan pointed to the cup of tea. "But first of all, promise me there's no funny business about this tea."

Weston snorted. "It's just plain old oolong tea. No funny business."

Tristan narrowed his eyes at the man.

Weston rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. "I promise. Now proceed with the story."

Tristan took a tentative sip of the tea, discovering that it indeed tasted like 'plain old' oolong tea. "Well, I met Saoirse in a similar fashion that I've met you." He began.

Weston snorted again. "Why am I not surprised?"

Tristan frowned. "Do you want me to continue or not?"

Weston waved a hand at him. "Carry on."

"I was twelve at the time and it was during the festival of Abundance. I got involved in the dare game with some other kids and someone dared me to wrestle with a feisty young stygimoloch who liked nothing more than a good wrestling match. Of course, the stygimoloch wrestled with other young dinosaurs, not people. I knew there was a good chance that I'd get creamed, but I wasn't about to back down from the dare. I'd wrestled plenty of times with Sekani so I figured I could stand a chance. Besides, there was no way I was going to back down from a dare. It turned out that the stygimoloch was pretty rough and clearly intent on winning. I imagine he didn't want a human to get the best of him. Well, as you can probably imagine, I ended up losing, even though I have to admit that I put up a good fight."

Weston almost snorted again, but managed to keep from it.

"I ended up with some bruises and a sprained wrist, but I didn't want my parents to know because I'd get into trouble and they'd most likely punish me by not letting me out of their sight for the rest of the event and that wouldn't be any fun at all. So I hid in an alley and tried to be tough, but it was hard. Also, I didn't want any of the other kids to see me because it was hard not to cry. I _hate_ being defeated."

Weston nodded, biting back another comment.

Tristan took another sip of tea and continued. "That's when Saoirse stepped out of a side door from one of the buildings and found me there, trying to nurse my wounds—I'll admit it was probably my injured pride being the worst of it.

"Yup." Weston said and couldn't resist nodding his head in agreement.

Tristan frowned at him. "_Anyway_," he said sharply, continuing his story. "Saoirse offered to help me and took me to her house which happened to be nearby. I told her all about what happened and how I really didn't want anyone else knowing about my defeat and she promised to keep my secret. She told me that she was a stubborn person herself and hated to lose at anything too. With that, Saoirse and I developed a friendship. I learned that she loved rocks so anytime I came across any, whether it was during a family outing down in the countryside or finding interesting ones in shops, I dropped by when I could and gave her my special findings. Any time I ran into trouble, I learned that I could depend on her to help me and keep my secrets and she happily stashed away my rock findings."

Weston sent a slightly annoyed look over at a basket of rocks which sat on display on a corner shelf in the room. "Yeah, Saoirse sure is rock crazy. She's got them all over her house. I have to be careful not to knock off the ones lined up on shelves and tables and I'm always stubbing my toes on the bigger ones she keeps displayed on the floor. Well, rocks may butter her up and suffice her as payment, but I'm different."

Tristan swallowed hard. "I kind of figured as much."

"Yup."

"I just kind of hoped though. I thought maybe since you were related you might share similar interests."

"Nice try. I get my fill of rocks when I stay and work with Saoirse."

Tristan set the empty tea mug down. "So…what did you have in mind?"

Weston leaned back in his chair and stretched casually. "You're getting ahead of yourself. Before we discuss payment you tell me your story, remember?"

"I just told you my story."

"The one about how you met Saoirse, yes, but now I want you to tell me everything."

"What do you mean, everything?" Tristan said.

Weston looked up at the ceiling for a moment as if praying for patience. "You know exactly what I mean." He said. "Here. I'll help you get started. I've already put some puzzle pieces together from the mixed up things you said last night. Apparently you're a young Skybax Rider of some sort, seeing as you mentioned training in Canyon City—a Rider who ended up in a fight with another Rider who beat you to a pulp. And I want to know what caused the fight, and why you say you're harboring a skybax egg, secretively, and why you're apparently hiding from the city officials, and yet you say you're not a Drifter."

"Well I'm _not_ a Drifter."

Weston rolled his eyes. "Well then tell my why you're _not_."

"I think I've told you enough."

Weston blew out his breath impatiently. "I've gone this far without turning you over to the city officials. You really think I'll change my mind at this point? I'll just put it this way. I won't. You can tell me whatever you will, no matter how ugly. I give you my word that I won't turn you in."

"But why?" Tristan asked, narrowing his eyes at the man. "What's in it for you?"

"Your debt." Weston said emphatically. "I've been giving you my Healer services and as long as I have you relying on me and also needing me to keep your secrets, you can be useful to me."

Tristan sat in silence for a minute, wrapping his mind around Weston's. This man had a way of turning every barter to his own advantage somehow. His way of doing business sounded much like how Saoirse did, but somehow Weston seemed to take things a step further.

"Fine then." Tristan finally said. "I will tell you everything only since you have given your word that you won't turn me in over anything I might say. That's the deal." He was desperately trying to sound as if he actually had a choice in the matter.

Weston rolled his eyes and held out a hand to shake on the deal. "It's a deal. You tell me your ugly story and I'll keep quiet about it."

Tristan shook on the deal, then propped up the pillows against the headboard of the bed and used them for a cushy back rest for a seat on the bed.

Weston pushed away the rolling cart with the empty food tray resting on top, then settled back in his chair, folding his hands in his lap and propping up his feet on a low stool which he'd pulled out from under the bed, making it clear that he was not leaving until Tristan told his story. Kiko flew over to Weston and climbed onto his shoulder.

Tristan sat still for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

Weston and Kiko remained silent, waiting.

Finally Tristan began. In the shortest way he could get away with, he told everything, from when he first arrived at Canyon City, all the way until the end. He even included what happened in the Forbidden Mountains and how Saoirse helped them. The hardest part was explaining what happened at Graduation Day and then losing Twilight. Ever since he'd lost the skybax partner, he'd shoved aside the memory every time it surfaced in his mind, avoiding coming to terms with it. Now, having to tell someone about it proved to be difficult. His chest felt tight and his voice grew low and raspy as he haltingly got through that part of the story. Somehow though, he managed to keep from falling apart altogether right in front of Weston.

"So you see, I have to be able to do this for the sake of gaining Dark Wing's trust. He appointed me as the guardian over the egg and someday I will have to bring the hatchling back to the canyons when the time seems right. I'm wondering if he was worried about the battles with the other skybaxes and didn't feel like the nesting grounds were safe enough to keep the egg there for now. I feel like this hatchling could be a link somehow in creating peace among the skybaxes."

Weston shook his head slowly. "I didn't realize all that was going on with the skybaxes in the canyons."

"Well, most people wouldn't. It's a pterosaur skirmish and for the most part, humans are holding back, staying out of it."

Weston hesitated, looking as if he were considering something, then decided against it. "Except for you." He said in the end.

"Well, I guess."

After a moment of silence Weston scratched the back of his head. "You know, there aren't many people here in Dinotopia who would pursue fraternizing with these rogue skybaxes. I think you're on the road to a lot more trouble."

"I realize that." Tristan replied. "But you'll keep my secret for now, right?" Even though they'd made a bargain, he still worried that the man might change his mind and not want to have anything to do with him.

"Yes." Weston said. "But I'm not simply _giving_ you my trust, nor my services. You're going to _earn_ it all the way."

"I can tell." Tristan muttered. "So what do you have in mind?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it all day and this is what I've decided. In a few days I've got a delivery of herbs and medical supplies to take further south along the Dolphin Bay. It would be easier if I didn't have to handle the trip on my own, so I could really use another hand to help out."

"South? How far south?"

Weston hesitated, then looked away, tracing imaginary patterns on the arm of the chair with his fingertip. "As far as the Black Fish Tavern."

Tristan leaned forward and simply gawked at Weston for a moment. "Seriously?"

Weston nodded. "Yes."

"Are you crazy? That place is a raptor's nest of rogues and Dolphin Bay Drifters. You're only asking for trouble if you step through those doors."

"I know it's not an ideal place to do business, but Drifters can be willing to pay a high price for the Healer services of someone who won't expose them to the higher councils of Dinotopia. You, of all people, should understand that, seeing the situation you're in. Also, I've got orders to make this delivery so that's where I'm going."

"Orders? By who?

"Saoirse."

Tristan sank back against the pillows, trying to get his mind around this new piece of information. So this was why Weston was driving such a hard bargain with him right now. The man was doing as Tristan wanted, giving him the Healer assistance he needed and providing him a place to hide out for now rather than turning him in, but it obviously was a way of business for him rather than just pure niceness.

"But I don't understand." He finally said. "I sort of got the vibe from you last night that you didn't offer any services to Dolphin Bay Drifters."

Weston smiled sardonically. "That was last night and if you remember correctly I said that I didn't want to offer services to any without _Saoirse_ here."

"But you're planning on dealing with a whole slew of them without Saoirse. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that the delivery was scheduled before Saoirse ever left and the dealing takes place somewhere else, not here in Sauropolis at Saoirse's house. So what do you say, will you help me with the delivery or not?"

Tristan eyed the other guy warily. "You mean I have a choice?"

Weston rolled his eyes. "Not really. You owe me, remember? _Big time_."

"So what all does this trip consist of?"

Weston shrugged. "Whatever comes up really. I'll need some help with the unloading and the bartering…basically I could use an assistant. It's really not that big of a deal. Once you know how the Drifter world works, it's not that hard to get along. Most of the folks really aren't that bad anyway. They just live a little on the rougher side and have a different way of bartering than most Dinotopians. Come on, it would give you an opportunity to get away from Sauropolis and those that are sort of trying to hunt you down, so to speak."

"Well, put like that, you do have a point there." Tristan grumbled. "But have you done this before? I mean, we could get into some serious trouble. I've heard you really have to watch your back in that place."

"Yeah. I've been there with Saoirse plenty of times. Some of the folks that come through are pretty rough, but the tavern owners themselves are decent enough. They'll be the ones that we'll work directly with most of the time. If you know Saoirse well enough then I'm sure you've seen how she can stand her ground. People respect her there."

"Yeah, but the question is, will they respect _us_?"

Weston offered a crooked smile. "If we give them a reason to, they will."

"But how are we going to pull that off?"

"With Drifters, you improvise as you go."

Tristan stared at Weston as if he thought he were crazy.

Weston laughed. "Look, it won't be that bad. They're already familiar with me there. If we stand our ground and drive a hard bargain, like Saoirse does, I believe we'll have a pretty good shot at gaining some respect…and some wealth."

Tristan sighed deeply, feeling defeated. "Alright," he finally said, "I'll go with you and be your assistant, but just realize that the skybax egg is coming with me. But before I leave the city, I'm going to find a way to get that egg back in my possession before the city officials sniff it out and confiscate it. And it's staying with me from now on."

Weston's brows pulled together in a look of concern and he seemed about to say something more about the matter, but then decided not to. He held out his hand instead. "Looks like we have a deal." He said.

Tristan grudgingly shook his hand, giving up on the hope that he would ever feel like he was coming out on the upper end of a deal.


End file.
